Shattered Memories
by Karasu444
Summary: This is a fan-fic about OCs. In each chapter one or more OCs are introduced, there will be a short description about them. Scroll down a bit to view the actual chapter
1. Introductions are in Order

-Ryuu Namikaze

**Name:**Ryuu Namizake (Ryuu=Dragon Namikaze=Waves and Wind)  
><strong>Rank:<strong> Chunin  
><strong>Age:<strong>16  
><strong>Gender:<strong>Male  
><strong>Village:<strong>Village Hidden in the Sand  
><strong>Physical Descriptions:<strong>5 Feet 6 Inches tall, somewhat muscular,  
>Brown Skin, Black Hair that barely reaches his Eyebrows, Eyes different<br>colors(Left green, the right blue), Crimson shirt with a white  
>dragon(the symbol of his clan) on the back, Black shorts that reach well<br>below his knees, and he goes barefooted.

-Yoshi Lee

**Name:** Yoshi Lee  
><strong>Rank:<strong> Chunin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 17  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village:<strong> Sand Village  
><strong>Physical description:<strong>about 5'8, has long black hair(down to his  
>neck), smallish ears, Yellow skin, and is seriously ripped. He always<br>wears jeans shorts with a plain black T-shirt. He has light brown eyes.

-Akina Utsukushii

**Name:** Akina Utsukushii (Utsukushii = beautiful)  
><strong>Rank:<strong> Chunin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 16  
><strong>Villiage:<strong> Sand  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Female  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong> 5 feet tall, 4 inches, Very beautiful. Has longish black hair and  
>beautiful blue eyes. She has a perfect body, and is very healthy. She<br>always wears black shorts and a camouflage Tshirt under a chunin jacket.

And soooo I present to you, the first chapter of Shattered Memories!

**Chapter 1: Introductions Are In Order**

The forest was a very quiet place. Not many people passed through it. At least, that's how it seemed. The thickness of the branches and the way they were spaced out from each other made it easy to leap from limb to limb. A small squirrel was nibbling on an acorn and did not even notice the noise of a pair of feet hitting the branch and leaping off quickly again. It didn't even flinch when this happened twice more. Of course, if the rodent had noticed, the shinobi jumping from tree to tree wouldn't be doing their job very well.

"Are we there yet?" The first male shinobi of the group had remained silent for most of the trip, but decided to joke about with his comrades.

"Shut up, Ryuu!" The second male there shut up his team mate, even though he almost ran into a tree trunk, "we're on a mission to do recon on a rouge ninja that nobody knows anything about, and you've decided to resort to jokes?"

"If both of you don't stop shouting soon," The girl stated, "He might hear us coming and run off without us. We don't want that, now do we?"

The men started to protest, but stopped when the leapt out of the forest into a grassy field. They only just regained there balance before they hit the ground. The boy that had questioned his comrades looked like an average shinobi. The red shirt he wore with the clan symbol on his back and his black shorts seemed to be his option of clothing. He brushed aside the hair near his eyes, which brought a bit more attention to his eyes, one of which was blue and the other was green. He rubbed his bare feet in slight discomfort.

The second male who had attempted to silence his comrade had a much more casual look than his partners. His jean shorts and black t-shirt made him look like a regular person, but one would be able to tell that he was anything other than that because of his Sunakagure headband, similar to the ones that his friends wore around their foreheads. His light brown eyes scanned the field while he combed out his neck-length black hair with his fingers.

The only female of the group was the only one of her group who looked like a real shinobi. Her black shorts and camouflage shirt helped her blend in with her environment. She was also the only person in her group wearing the Sunakagure-issue, light-brown jacket, symbolising the rank of Chunin that she shared with her comrades.

"This field seems empty enough." The girl said, "What does the bingo book say about our missin-nin friend?"

"Let's see" The black-shirted young man known as Yoshi opened up his leg pouch to look for the list of criminals every ninja carried, "I know I left that thing around here somewhere."

The boy that was earlier addressed as Ryuu rolled his eyes as he handed the book over to his female comrade.

"Here you go, Akina."

"Thank you, Ryuu."  
>Yoshi glared up in annoyance at his male comrade. Frustrated, he walked a few feet away from his comrades and opened his pouch to check his supplies. Akina ignored her team mate's immaturity and flipped through the book's pages.<p>

"Ah! Here we are." She stopped at a page labelled 'S-Rank Criminals'.

The picture she had located showed a man, who seemed to be in his forties, with a scar the went from the top-left of his face to the right corner of his mouth. His uncut black hair reached his eyebrows in the front and his shoulders in the back. His dark brown eyes seemed to have a hint of fatigue in them.

Akina slowly walked away from her friends as she read the info. "Narako Tizashi, male, Age:43, Village of origin is unknown, tattoos covering his upper arm and forearm, Info:Helps villagers and battles only when attacked, info on jutsu is unknown, reported to use lightning, water, and wind jutus, allegedly travelling with a wolf with similar tattoos on its back"

Yoshi looked at his organization of his equipment and smiled. His eyes glanced at the grass around him and his eyes widened slightly. He started to quickly pack up his gear.

"Umm, guys?"

"Not now. Yoshi. So what's the battle plan, Akina?"

"Not sure. And remember, we aren't supposed to fight unless he attacks us."

"Guys?"

"Fine then. What's the recon plan?"

"Simple; keep our distance and if he sees us, run. If he attacks us, attack back. Report back to the village in two days."

"GUYS!"

"WHAT!"

The two had grown tired of their team mate's worried tone and angrily responded to him.

"No big deal or anything, but is the grass growing quicker than usual?"

Akina and Ryuu looked down at their feet at noticed that the grass was, in fact, slowly growing at about a half-inch a second. The moment they noticed this, the grass instantly shot up until it was at least seven feet tall. The shinobi could barely see through the foliage, and the fact that they were several meters away from each other didn't help their plan.

"Yoshi, Akina, what do you guys think?"

His female companion responded first, "It's a jutsu obviously. Our attacker, or attackers, probably have some kind of way to see through this grass, so they're probably going to start attacking us one by one."

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong Yoshi?"

"I tried cutting this grass down, but it grows back one second later!"

And sure enough, when Ryuu pulled out a kunai and tried to cut the grass, he succeeded, but the grass quickly grew back to its original height.

Ryuu stared at where he cut the plants and thought to himslef, 'If cutting it won't work, how about burning it?'

Ryuu activated his kekkai genkai, which sent a large amount of fire chakra running through his blood stream instantaneously. He then expelled the energy from the veins near his hands, which took the form of white flames that were wrapped around his hands, yet they did not burn him. The flames slowly crawled up his arms, and he smiled as the foliage around him slowly started to burn away.

"Water Style: Morning Dew Jutsu!"

Ryuu glanced towards the direction that he heard the voice, which he noted was female as a large blanket of cold water fell upon the grass, extinguishing the flames on Ryuu and the grass. He brought up the flames again, ignoring his soaked person, and tried to ignite the grass again. The water covering it prevented it from even singeing. Ryuu frowned in frustration and starting looking around him to see if he couldn't locate his comrades. After several minutes, and much to Ryuu's relief, the grass started to shrink, as if someone was pulling it down from beneath the earth. As soon as the grass descended to below his eyes, he looked to where he last saw Yoshi. He was annoyed and wet, but otherwise fine. It was when he looked to where Akina was that he grew slightly worried. Akina was uninjured, but her hands were trying to pull off the arm wrapped around her neck. The Sand chunin tried to get a look at their attacker's face, but she was wearing a mask that covered her skin up to her nose and a hood that blocked a good portion of her face. The only thing Ryuu could see of her face was dark skin, a scar, and red, glaring eyes. She lifted up a kunai to Akina's face and spoke one sentence.

"Tell me who you are, or I kill the girl."


	2. Introductions are in Order Part II

Kusaaijin Habatobi

**Name:**Kusaaijin Habatobi  
><strong>Rank:<strong>Genin  
><strong>Age:<strong>13  
><strong>Gender:<strong>Female  
><strong>Village:<strong>Village Hidden In The Grass (Kusakagure)  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong>5 feet, tanned skin, red  
>eyes, scar on her right eye that goes from to the right and above her<br>eye to the left and below the eye, short, slightly unkempt, green hair  
>that reaches her neck in the back, her ears on the side, and a bit above<br>her eyebrows in the front, sleeveless, green camouflage hoodie with  
>village symobl on the hood, black shorts that reach her knee, dark green<br>camouflage leg covers that go from just above the ankles to her thigh  
>(they go over her shorts), dark green camouflage arm covers that go from<br>her wrist to her biceps

Kawa

**Name:** Kawa (Kawa = River)  
><strong>Rank:<strong> S-Class Missing Nin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 21  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village:<strong> used to be Mist  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong> Kawa is about 5 feet and 9 1/2 inches tall. He has very dark green, wettish looking hair, that is a little bit seaweed like, and it extends just above his eyebrows in the front leaving his Mist headband (which has a slash across it) barely visible. His hair extends about an inch longer than the front on the sides curving a little bit around the cheeks, while the back slightly longer than the sides but not by much. His eyes are gray and Kawa's skin has a slight pale, aqua tone to it. His clothing style is the same as Zangei. The only differences are that his cloak is grey and he has black bubble symbols on his cloak.

Senko

**Name:** Senko (Senko = Flash)  
><strong>Rank:<strong> S-Class Missing Nin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 27  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village:<strong> used to be Cloud  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong> Senkou is 6 feet tall. Senko has silver,  
>short, and spiky hair in a style similar to the Fourth Hokage, but<br>shorter on the sides. His irises are are a teal blue with black pupils.  
>Senko has the same clothing as Kawa except the bubbles are replaced with<br>lightning bolt symbols.

**Chapter 2:Introductions Are In Order (Part II)**

Seeing his comrade in danger, Yoshi went into a battle stance, with one  
>arm ready to perform hand seals and one reaching towards one of the<br>knifes strapped to his waist. He looked towards his team mate to see if  
>he was preforming a similar action. He stopped in surprise when he saw<br>Ryuu standing with his hands, which were usually ready for action,  
>raised above his head in a pose of surrender. After a small moment of<br>consideration, Yoshi did the same.

"My name is Ryuu Namizake," Ryuu stated in a slow monotone so that their  
>assailant could hear them, "This is my team mate Yoshi Lee and the girl<br>you're holding hostage is Akina Utsukushii. We are Chunins sent from  
>the Village Hidden In The Sand on a B-Rank mission to perform<br>reconnaissance on the rouge ninja known as Narako Tizashi. I can see  
>from the technique you used earlier that you yourself are a ninja. I'm<br>certain that if we discuss the situation at hand we can all walk away  
>without anyone getting hurt."<p>

The enemy glared at Ryuu with a eyes that could burn through metal, but  
>Ryuu stood firm. She moved her head closer towards Akina and seemed to<br>whisper something in her ear. She raised an eyebrow in confusion then  
>slowly nodded her head. She stopped struggling as the mystery woman<br>moved the kunai away from Akina's neck. She pulled the mask down from  
>her face and raised her hands above her head. The two male shinobi were<br>about to launch an assault when their attacker started to speak.

"My name is Kusaaijin Habatobi. I am a Genin ninja from the Village  
>Hidden In The Grass. I have also been sent on a mission to monitor<br>Narako Tizashi."

The four ninja stared at each other, tensed up to attack, when Ryuu finally broke the silence.

"All right then."

The ninja that were in a position of surrender lowered their hands and  
>relaxed. Now that she was no longer an enemy, Ryuu finally took a note<br>of the newcomer's appearance. She was a girl who was about  
>half-of-a-foot shorter than Ryuu, so he assumed she was about 2-3 years<br>younger than him. She wore a sleeveless, dark-green camouflage hoodie  
>that was only a little bit larger than skin tight. Her limbs were<br>covered by green arm and leg covers that were also camouflage. The only  
>thing she was wearing that wasn't camouflage were the black shorts that<br>went under her leg covers. With her outfit on and her hood up, she  
>blended in perfectly with the grass. The only thing that didn't blend in<br>were her piercing red eyes. The one quality about her that Ryuu found  
>strange was her dark skin, which was strange outside the Land of<br>Lightning.

"So what's a Genin doing hunting down an S-Rank criminal?" Yoshi asked

Kusaaijin jumped slightly at the question.

"Ummm...my village is short on ninja right now. So the s-sent me insead."

Everyone was surprised at Kusaaijin's response seeing as she was strong and confident not ten seconds ago.

Akina clapped her hands together, "All right then, new plan. Now that  
>we've met another shinobi with the same mission as us, what do you say<br>that we pool our resources and work together?"

"Sounds good to me."

"All right!"

"S-sure..."

After they decided which way to go and pieced together a plan, they set off to find their target.

***Some forest trail***

There were six ninja standing on the path, with a dog standing ready to  
>attack. Standing on one side were four shinobi, none of which stood over<br>6 feet tall. They all wore long black cloaks each with a slightly  
>different appearance. The shortest one had a simple black cloak with a<br>hood. The second tallest one wore a similar cloak with a high collar  
>instead of a hood, which showed his short brown hair and sideburns. The<br>last two wore the same cloaks, the difference being the one was adorned  
>with yellow bolts and the other with several blue circles that looked<br>like bubbles.

The other two ninja, standing opposite the cloaked quartet were much  
>less coordinated. The first ninja almost towered over the other ninja.<br>His appearance was strange, yet seemed rather fitting for a ninja from  
>the Village Hidden In The Stone. His long auburn and black hair was tied<br>back in a ponytail and covered with a bandanna with his village symbol  
>engraved on a metal plate. The metal gloves were also inscribed with the<br>symbol of Iwakagure and had small drills on each of the knuckles. He  
>hung two identical pickaxes from his dark brown pants and one massive<br>pickaxe resting on his shoulder. The grin on his face suggested that he  
>was ready for a fight. Although he seemed intimidating, the man standing<br>to his left seemed much more feral. His short, spiked black hair made  
>him look animal-like. His red eyes and his exposed canines didn't help<br>his appearance look any less frightening. He wore an open ruffled jacket  
>that exposed his black shirt that showed three red scars, the symbol of<br>his clan. His bare feet were so spaced apart from each other in a  
>battle stance that his hands almost touched the ground. The large wolf<br>standing beside him looked ready to tear his master's opponent's throats  
>out.<p>

The man from Iwakagure shifted the massive digging tool on his shoulder  
>slightly, "Looks like we found the guys we were looking for. Eh,<br>Surasshu?"

The Konoha ninja shuffled his bare feet slightly more apart. "Looks like it. Let's kick their asses!"

The smallest of the cloaked enemies spoke up, "These fools are in the way of our goal. Senko, Kawa, destroy them."

The two men wearing the bolt and bubble adorned cloaks stepped forward  
>and assumed a battle pose. The area was completely silent for several<br>seconds. The silence finally fell when a strong gust of wind went  
>through the area. A small leaf detached from one of the nearby trees and<br>all eyes fell towards it as it drifted towards the area between the two  
>groups. They all silently agreed that when the leaf hit the ground, the<br>battle would begin.


	3. Getting to know one Another

**Chapter 3:Getting To Know One Another**

The shinobi quartet continued to leap through the woods with  
>unmeasurable speed. If you were to track there progress with the naked<br>eye, you would see several blurs flying through the trees, with the  
>occasional glance of a humanoid shape landing on a branch, only to fly<br>off again. Ryuu constantly glanced behind him to check his teammates. He  
>would see Yoshi and Akina keeping their eyes ahead of themselves, but<br>he would see Kusaiijin redden slightly and look away. Ryuu quickly  
>forgot it and continued to survey ahead of him. Akina was much more<br>attentive to this and beckoned Kusaaijin to move back a few feet out of  
>their male teammates' hearing.<p>

"Why do you keep looking at Ryuu?" Akina questioned Kusaaijin with the raise of an eyebrow that only a female could muster.

Kusaaijin blushed slightly at the other female's implied accusation.  
>"Um...well...it's just...you see, I get a bit nervous around people I've<br>never met before. I'm just afraid of what they think of me."

"You don't seem to be nervous about me or Yoshi."

The Grass Genin's attitude and composure quickly switched to that of when she was attacking the Sand Chunin

"It's because you're a chick and the other guy bugs me."

Akina's free eyebrow raised at this change in tone, changing her face to one of surprise.

"Okay. Just curious."

Akina increased her speed slightly to form another formation. Kusaaijin  
>made sure that no one was looking, and continued to stare at Ryuu, like<br>some forgotten memory.

_ _  
>When Yoshi saw that his female companions had fallen back slightly, he<br>hopped a few extra branches forward to converse with the only other male  
>in the area.<p>

"Hey, Ryuu," the person in question turned his head, but still kept his  
>eyes forward to make sure he didn't crash into any trees, "have you<br>noticed that Kusaaijin's been looking at you weird?"

The dual eye-coloured shinobi thought about it for a moment, "I'm not  
>all that attractive. Maybe she's interested in my kekkai genkai? A lot<br>of people are interested in it." Ryuu glanced back at the two women  
>tailing him, paying most attention to the dark-skinned girl's face. He<br>turned back to Yoshi when he came up with something to say.

"She does look really familiar though."

Yoshi shrugged at this and ceased verbal communication after Akina had  
>gotten closer to the two young men. They both put their attention back<br>forward, but Ryuu could not shake the feeling that someone was watching  
>him.<p>

_ _  
>After fifteen minutes of silence, Akina suggested that the group take a<br>quick meal break. While Yoshi and Akina took out some minor provisions,  
>Ryuu pulled Kusaaijin a few feet away.<p>

"I've been noticing that you've been staring at me. Seeing as I have no  
>idea who you are, I'm going to have ask what the hell is going on."<p>

The young woman heard the question, but continued to stare at Ryuu's  
>face. He could not help but blush slightly after a few seconds. He was<br>never good with girls.

"I know I've seen your face before. I just can't tell from when."

Ryuu was slightly surprised at this, as the same was true for him.

"Interesting. I think that I've seen your face before, but I just can't  
>put my finger on it. It's like I can see the memory of when, but it's as<br>if there is a massive forest blocking the-

"Oh! I now where I've seen you!"

Ryuu took a small step forward in interest, "You do?"

"Yeah! Your the guy who-"

"Excuse me."

Everyone's eyes could not help but turn to the direction that this new  
>voice came from and then widen when they saw what it came from. Before<br>them was a larger than average mole. They could obviously tell that this  
>was no ordinary mole. Other than the fact that it spoke, it was<br>standing on two legs and had small round-rimmed black spectacles and had  
>a small sash around it's waist with the Earth village symbol on it.<p>

"As I can see that you are not enemy's of my master's village," the  
>mammal gestured towards the metal plate that the sash he wore bore and<br>that adorned the headbands of the shinobi towering over him, "I need to  
>ask of your urgent assistance."<p>

The ninja, who could not help but be surprised at the obviously summoned  
>creature, stared at each other for a few moments, then decided to pack<br>up their equipment and follow the mole.


	4. A Growing Party

**Kurai Kichigai**

**Name**:Kurai Kichigai (Kurai = dark/gloomy Kichigai = insane)  
><strong>Rank<strong>:Jonin  
><strong>Age<strong>:30  
><strong>Gender<strong>:Male  
><strong>Village<strong>:Iwagakure  
><strong>Physical Description<strong>:6 feet, 7 inches tall, thin, but muscular,  
>long auburn and black hair tied up in a ponytail that reaches his<br>shoulder blades,Iwakagure bandanna, green eyes, dark circles under his  
>eyes, black, zip-up, long-sleeved shirt with the left sleeve torn off,<br>dark brown pants that cover 3/4 of his legs, black boots that cover 1/4  
>of his legs, two spikes on the toe of each boot that resemble drills,<br>metal gloves on each hand with the Iwakagure symobl on the back of his  
>hand and one-and-a-half inch long drills on each knuckle<p>

**Surasshu Ookami no raida**

**Name:** Surasshu Ookami no raida (Surasshu = Slash)  
><strong>Rank:<strong>Anbu co-leader (Special jonin)  
><strong>Age:<strong>28  
><strong>Gender:<strong>male  
><strong>village:<strong> Village hidden in the leaves  
><strong>Clan:<strong> Ookami no raida  
><strong>Physical Descriptions:<strong> 5 feet, 11 in. He has black hair that is spiked  
>up. Hes rather short for his clan. He wears a ruffled jacket that he<br>always has open, with a black shirt that has his clans insignea on  
>it.(Slash marks ) His eyes are crimson red and look like wolf eyes  
>(Usually people in this clan have, yellow, blue, or green wolf eyes). He<br>rarely wheres shoes but when he does, they are open toed. He has claws,  
>but not to large, very sharp though.<p>

**  
>Chapter 4: A Growing Party<strong>

After a few minutes of traveling, the shinobi finally came to the  
>location the mole was directing them to. They were standing on a large<br>trail that was surrounded by trees on either side of it. It looked like  
>an ordinary trail, other than the fact that a battle had recently taken<br>place. Several kunai and shuriken were scattered around the area. There  
>was even a sword or two jammed into the ground. The ground was torn up<br>in some places. There were even large boulders jutting out of the path.  
>Small puddles of water dotted the area. What first caught the ninjas'<br>attention though were the three bodies in the center of the area, two  
>human and one dog.<p>

Ryuu looked around the area with a surprised, and slightly frightened  
>look in his eyes. "What happened here?" His comrades seemed to have the<br>same idea he did. Akina stared at the bodies on the path, fearing they  
>were dead, but too nervous to do anything about it. Yoshi glanced around<br>the area, wondering more about who caused this mayhem rather. Kusaaijin  
>just stood, trembling slightly. The mole ignored Ryuu's question and<br>went straight to the taller of the two men on the ground.

"Master," the mole gentled shoved the shinobi on the ground, "I've brought some assistance."

The man lay without movement. After several seconds of silence, the mans  
>eyes shot open, making the teenagers jump. Kusaaijin thought that his<br>eyes had a yellowish tinge, but they quickly faded to a green colour.  
>The man stared at them for several seconds, which made Ryuu wonder if he<br>was simply staring at them, or trying to decide if and how he should  
>kill them.<p>

"...Good." The man sat up, with some difficulty, after a few seconds of silence, "Thank you, Ichimogura."

The Earth ninja poked the second man for a few seconds before he too sat  
>up with a look of pain on his face. The dog next to him rolled over on<br>its stomach and panted heavily.

"So you guys are the back up Kurai's mole managed to find, eh?" The Leaf  
>ninja commented with a sarcastic tone, "You're just a bunch of kids."<p>

"We're not kids! We're shinobi!"

Everyone looked at the source of the outburst, and most of them looked in surprise when they saw that it was Kusaaijin.

The two elder shinobi stared at the small Grass genin and then started to laugh.

"You've got guts, kid," the larger man stated with a grin on his face,  
>"allow me to introduce ourselves. My name is Kurai Kichigai, Jonin of<br>Iwagakure. The mutt you see to my right is Surasshu. His dog's name  
>is Kurainami."<p>

The 'mutt' in question glared at Earth shinobi and, to the surprise of the teens, growled.

Kurai continued, unphased, "We are on a mission to kill or, if possible,  
>kill the rouge ninja known as Kuroshi Karasu and his associates. What<br>about you?"

"My name is Ryuu Namikaze. My team mates Yoshi, Akina, and I are from  
>Sunakagure and Kusaaijin is from Kusakagure," Ryuu gestured towards each<br>ninja as he mentioned them, with Kusaiijin bowing slightly and stepping  
>back when she was called, "The four of us are on a mission to do<br>reconnaissance on the ninja known as Narako Tizashi."

Surasshu's eyes widened at this and he look at Kurai. He nodded, bit his  
>thumb, and did a quick series of hand signs. After six hand seals, he<br>placed his hands on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appeared and when it dissipated, three moles stood in  
>its place. The two of them didn't look much different from Ichimogura,<br>but the third was a bit smaller than the rest and wore a short, light  
>pink kimono and horn-rimmed glasses. She also carried a scroll on her<br>back.

"Ichimogura, I'm going to need you for a few more minutes."

"Yes, sir"

"What have you called us for this time?" The second mole asked.

Kurai leaned closer to the summoned mammals. "You guys need to draw an  
>Earth Displacement Seal for us. We need a pseudo hospital right now."<p>

The four moles nodded and each pulled a small ink brush from their  
>clothing and drew a large rectangle surrounding the two injured shinobi<br>and Kurainami. They then drew an X connecting the corners of the  
>rectangle with each other. They then stood next to a corner and placed<br>down a small lamp that they retrieved from their clothing.

"Step inside the seal," Kurai beckoned towards the four young shinobi.  
>They hesitated, but stepped inside the rectangle anyway. After a nod<br>from Kurai, the moles placed their hands on their corners and the ground  
>started to sink. After they had gone a sufficient way down, the hole<br>above them started to close. The quartet started to panic, but relaxed  
>when the lamps the moles pulled out were bright enough to light the<br>area. After a few metres, the granite elevator came to a stop. Kurai  
>struggled to stand as he lifted the moles to write another seal<br>identical to the one they stood on. As the wall in front of the ninja  
>moved forward, Surasshu and his canine companion stood with Kurai and<br>walked forward as the wall moved.

Surasshu spoke with a hint of pain in his voice, "Sorry for the  
>unexplained move. We just wanted to make sure that no one was listening<br>to us."

"You see, it seems that we all share a common goal here," Kurai said.

Akina took in this new as some surprise, "You mean he's travelling with Kuroshi?"

"No. But he is being targeted by him."

This time, it was Yoshi's turn to ask a question, "Why?"

"Because he's a strong, rogue ninja that Kuroshi finds powerful,"  
>Surasshu responded, "He'll either make him join his group or kill him."<p>

The teens took this into thought when the wall in front of them stopped  
>moving. Before they could ask what was happening, the wall continued to<br>move, but also grow. When it had stopped, the shinobi found them selves  
>in a large room. The moles quickly hung the lamps from the ceiling using<br>long poles.

"Ichimogura, Nimogura, Sanmogura," Kurai addressed his familiars one by one, "you guys can go home now."

The moles disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the female mole left standing on her own.

"Kangomogura, I need you to bring in some healing clay."

"Yes sir."

The small mole drew some seals on the ground to make three indents in  
>the ground, two big enough for Kurai and Surrashu, the other big enough<br>for Kurainami. She then took the scroll off her back and, to the  
>surprise of the younger shinobi, a large mortar appeared with a tube<br>running from the base of it to the scroll. Kurai and Surasshu stripped  
>down to their undergarments, Akina looking away and Kusaiijin turning a<br>bright shade of red, while Kangomogura poured a strange-smelling mud  
>into the tubs. Once they were full, Kurai sent Kangomogura away and<br>eased himself into the tub until the clay was up to his neck. The Leaf  
>Jonin followed suite, with his dog easing into the third tub.<p>

"What is that stuff?" Ryuu held his nose slightly while speaking, "It stinks!"

"It's a special mud found in the Earth Village," Kurai had a look of  
>bliss on his face while he spoke, "it's infused with trace amounts of<br>chakra, making it an excellent healing material."

Surrashu continued to sink slightly, "We took some heavy damage in the  
>battle we just had, but we should be near-fully healed before tomorrow<br>morning"

Yoshi looked at his team mates in confusion, and then to the two mud-covered ninjas, "What are we supposed to do 'til then?"

Kurai looked up at the Sand teen and grinned, "Keep watch. We'll help you guys with your mission tomorrow."

The Sand ninjas and Kusaaijin all looked at each other and sighed, but walked anyway towards the cavern's entrance.


	5. Lookout Duty

**Chapter 5:Lookout Duty**

Yoshi and Ryuu sat on the ground, watching the entrance to their  
>comrades' hidey-hole in the cover of the forest. The two young men and<br>their female companions worked out a schedule so that two people were  
>always on watch and so that everyone would get an equal amount of sleep.<br>They also decided to keep watch from the forest close by. That way, no  
>one would be suspicious from seeing two people standing in the middle of<br>the path.

After checking that there was no one in earshot of the two shinobi,  
>Yoshi spoke to his partner, "So what's going on between you and<br>Kusaaijin?"

Ryuu turned to his friend and spoke in a whispered tone, "You say that like we're in some kind of relationship."

"It's just that you two have been talking to each other every time we took a rest, and she blushes whenever she looks at you."

Ryuu looked up at the stars in consideration, "I don't know. I have this  
>feeling that I've met her somewhere before," he scratched his head,<br>thinking, "but every time it seems that my brain is piecing the memory  
>together, some part of it breaks. When I'm almost done piecing that part<br>together, another one breaks, and so on."

"That sucks." Yoshi turned his attention back to the entrance of their  
>hideout. Both of them were quiet for several minutes before Yoshi once<br>again broke the silence, "Maybe you met her on a previous mission. Ever  
>been sent near the Grass Village?"<p>

Ryuu shook his head, "I don't think so. Like I said, I can't remember  
>where I met her, but I have the feeling that we were close somehow."<p>

Yoshi raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Really?" He and Ryuu glanced at  
>the path as they saw Kusaaijin come out of the ground, "Now's your<br>chance to talk to her," he gave his friend a pat on the path a leapt up  
>to get some rest.<p>

The two teens looked away from each other, glancing at anything in  
>general, in order to avoid eye contact. For the past hour and a half,<br>they had been sitting in silence. They were practically strangers, but  
>there was some kind of unknown tension in the air.<p>

Ryuu decided that he should at least try to get to the bottom of the  
>minor situation at hand, rather than sit in awkward silence until Akina<br>came to take Ryuu's shift. The Sand chunin cleared his throat, which,  
>not surprisingly, made Kusaaijin jump.<p>

"Um...Have you ever been on any missions near Sunakagure?"

Kusaaijin fidgeted a little as she searched for an answer, "I-I don't think so..."

"Been to any chunin exams?" Ryuu was trying to think of any place two ninjas might meet up.

"One or two," She responded, blushing slightly as she did so, "but I can't remember exactly where."

Ryuu sighed giving up his attempt to look for info. He then gave a huge  
>yawn, as one would normally do when staying awake for several hours<br>more than usual.

Kusaaijin took the opportunity to send him away, "Y-you've been keeping watch for too long. Go g-get some sleep."

Ryuu stared at her for a few moments, then stood up to go wake up Akina. Kusaaijin kept her eyes on him as he walked.

'W-we need to tell him!'

'No! We need to stay on task!'

'B-but...'

'We stay on task! We find Narako, then we ditch these guys and find Kensaki.'

'But Ryuu needs to know!'

'NO HE DOESN'T!'

"Kusaaijin?"

She jumped slightly as she heard her name being called. She looked up and saw Akina standing in front of her.

"Are you okay? I've been standing here for a couple seconds and you have  
>this look on your face like you're trying to solve a math problem."<p>

The Grass genin tried to search for the words, "Just got distracted I guess."

Akina sat down beside her, "Whatever you say. I found these scrolls in  
>Kurai's pockets. It's info on the guys they're looking for."<p>

She rolled the scrolls out on the grounds. Each one had the same set-up.  
>It had a picture of the criminal, their name, and a bit of info.<br>Crimes, village, and reward. Kusaaijin took them all into account, but  
>her attention was focused on one man. He seemed to be the oldest of the<br>four men pictured. He had slightly messy brown hair and blue eyes.

Kusaaijin gestured towards the picture, "Who's th-that guy?"

Akina picked up the scroll and read it aloud, "Zangei, no last name  
>given, missing-nin from the Leaf, used to be a jonin, declared rougue<br>after killing his team mates...Oh, here's something you may find  
>interesting. One crime he's currently charged for is the murder of a<br>team of Kusakagure ninjas."

Kusaaijin widened her eyes in surprise, "What?"

"Yeah. Three were killed, but the third body was never found or identified."

Kusaaijin placed a hand on the ground looked down, and mumbled something to herself, "Maybe it wasn't..."

Akina moved closer to the Grass genin, "What?'

Without lifting her head, Kusaaijin spoke, "You know, I think I can  
>handle the rest of the shift by myself. You should go get some sleep."<p>

Akina raised her eyebrows in surprise, "No. We both need to keep watch!"

"No, I insist," Kusaaijin looked up and glared at the Sand female,  
>"Sleep"<p>

Akina looked confused, and slightly intimidated. She then felt something  
>punch her hand and she lifted her hand to examine it. She gasped when<br>she saw three needles coming out of her hand. She pulled them out as she  
>looked for the source. To her surprise, she saw a small flower growing<br>from between Kusaaijin's fingers. The flower was opened up and still had  
>two needles ready to go. She suddenly felt as if her bones had been<br>replaced with lead, and she hit the ground hard. Even as she drifted  
>into an involuntary sleep, she saw Kusaaijin stand up, and jump away.<p>


	6. Finally! Some Action!

Author's notes:

I'll give Kuroshi's profile a little early due to Zangei's profile (you'll see why when you read it)

Kuroshi Karasu

**Name:** Kuroshi Karasu (Kuro = black, shi = death, karasu = crow/raven  
><strong>Rank:<strong> S-Class Missing Nin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 19  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village:<strong> unknown  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong> 5 feet, 6 inches tall, a little thin, and  
>has black, unkept hair, which in the back, goes down to the top of the neck, and down to the eyebrows from the front, and covers the ears on the side. His hair also has a slight jagged tone on the back and<br>the sides. His eyes are black and he has a black, hooded cloak, along with a  
>V-shaped opening down to the bottom of the chest and over-sized sleeves.<br>Under his cloak is a blue V-collar T-shirt (like the Akatsuki) and  
>black pants. Finally, Kuroshi has a black (big surprise?) sheaf for his<br>sword on his right hip, held by a black sash tied around his waist. Kuroshi is left handed.

**Zangei**

**Name:** Zangei (Zangei = Ruin)  
><strong>Rank:<strong> S-Class Missing Nin  
><strong>Age:<strong> 30  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village: <strong>used to be leaf  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong> Zangei is 5 feet, 10  
>inches tall, a little skinnier than Kuroshi, and has brown hair that is a<br>little messy, but otherwise flat at the top but pointy at the end  
>around the head. The hair is a little longer and curves around the sides<br>of his face. The back is still pointy but messier and it extends about  
>the same length as the sides, while the front extends up to just above<br>the eyebrows. His irises are an aqua color while the pupils are dark  
>blue. Finally, Zangei's clothing is the same as Kuroshi's except he<br>replaces the hood with simply a high collar, he doesn't have a black  
>sash, and his pants are just a dark grey instead of black.<p>

**  
>Chapter 6:Finally! Some Action!<strong>

"...na!...Aki...AKINA!"

Akina suddenly shot up from her sleeping position on the ground and  
>looked at her surroundings. The sun was rising, and Yoshi was kneeling<br>beside her with a hand on her shoulder. She was extremely groggy as she  
>tried to remember what happened hours earlier.<p>

"What happened? Where's Kusaaijin?" Yoshi asked with a slightly worried tone.

The Sand female rubbed her eyes in thought, "Kusaaijin...she...," her  
>eyes widened in realization as she looked at her hand, "Damn!<br>Kusaaijin!"

_ _ _  
>"So let me get this straight," Kurai said, still bathing in clay, "the<br>Genin used some kind of plant to put you to sleep, and now she's off  
>looking for one of Kuroshi's men?"<p>

Yoshi and Akina were standing in front of the terracotta tub that Kurai  
>was currently submerged in. Ryuu had obviously just woken up and was<br>staring at his platoon mates in surprise.

"That's the gist of it," Yoshi said.

The Stone Jonin thought for a moment, then let out a small sigh, "Looks  
>like we're going to have to accelerate our plans a little bit," He<br>seemed to struggle for a bit as a few cracks started to appear in the  
>now-hardened clay, "It's going to take me a few moments for me and<br>Surrashu to get out of here, but for now, you three get geared up and  
>look for your friend. We don't want her doing anything stupid."<p>

_ _ _  
>The tall man was walking through the woods staring at the trees<br>surrounding him. His commander had told him and the rest of his group to  
>look for a certain man, then to rejoin at high noon. The man hadn't<br>seen neither head nor tail of the man in question, but he still looked  
>for him with a slight fear in his heart that his boss would kill him if<br>he gave up. He looked at the rising sun and realized how tired he was.  
>He gave a quick yawn to wake up slightly, and when he opened his eyes<br>again, he noticed something was wrong with the flora around him. The man  
>took no second thoughts and instantly realized that he was in a<br>Genjutsu.

He placed his hands together and sent a small charge of chakra through  
>his body, "Release." No sooner that he had done so, the trees<br>disappeared and he was left standing in the centre of a large grassy  
>field. He realized that he must have been trapped in the Genjutsu long<br>ago, and tensed himself for an ambush. Seemingly out of nowhere, several  
>flowers erupted forth from the ground, covering every inch of the<br>field.

"Cute," the rouge mumbled to himself, catching the gentle scent of camomile, "but useless. Release."

He put his hands together and once again rid himself of the mind trick.  
>It seemed that he was only half done though, as only a quarter of the<br>flowers disappeared. After they did, the rest rose up, no longer  
>attached to the ground, as if pulled up by invisible strings. He once<br>again dismissed the illusion. Once again, only a quarter of the flowers  
>vanished. Once they had vaporized, the group that was remaining flew<br>towards him, spinning quite rapidly.

"Pathetic. Release!"

He was growing tired of these mind games and destroyed the illusion once  
>more. He had expected that the rest of these scent-rich plants would<br>evaporate, but instead only another fourth vanished leaving behind a  
>still rather large group. The mystery man decided to let the illusions<br>pass, as he was quite tired of draining his chakra, despite the  
>gargantuan supply he had left. |Instead of passing through his body<br>though, the first eleven or so flowers embedded themselves half-an-inch  
>into his chest and arms. Realizing that the rest of them spinning<br>towards him would probably kill him, he leapt out of the way with two of  
>the bladed petals scoring light cuts on his face. The rest of the<br>deadly plants flew off into the woods.

"Impressive," he said to anyone who was there to listen,yanking the  
>petals out of his body"a layer of three Genjutsu covering up your<br>actual assault. Clever, but too easy."

A voice that seemed to come from everywhere spoke back to him, "Then how come you didn't figure it out?"

The shinobi snarled in anger, when suddenly the grass surrounding him  
>shot up until it was well over his head. In an act of instinct, he<br>pulled out a kunai and sliced it down, only to have the grass grow back.  
>He smiled at this new development and started to perform hand signs. He<br>was interrupted half way through when something rushed by him and cut  
>his hand. He glanced in the direction his attacker went and threw a<br>small handful of shuriken in the direction. Believing he had killed his  
>target, he walked towards the area he threw the throwing stars, only to<br>be cut once more by his mystery assailant. His anger grew with every  
>passing second, but he decided that he needed to calm down in order to<br>come face to face with his new enemy. He took several deep breathes,  
>closed his eyes, and took note of the situation. The voice he heard was<br>feminine, so the assassin was a woman, although judging by the pitch she  
>was most likely a young girl. The jutsu she was using made him arrive<br>at the conclusion that she was a Kusa-nin. The way she was attacking him  
>made him think that she knew that she was weaker, so she was probably a<br>Genin. The attacker made several more trips to cut her target with  
>little resistance. Just when she thought that she was to strike the<br>final blow, the man grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes.

"Gotcha, rodent." With that, he threw her into the grass at his left and  
>preformed a small series of hand signs, "Lava Style: Lava Bullet!" he<br>brought his fingers to his lips in the shape of a ring and blew out  
>several spheres of lava, about the size of a human head, and they shot<br>forward with incredible speed towards the girl he just threw.

'Now then,' he thought, performing yet another series of hand signs, 'if  
>that didn't kill her, and to get rid of these pesky weeds...' his<br>thoughts trailed off as he raised his head in the air, yet again  
>bringing his hands to his mouth.<p>

"Lava Style: Lava Rainstorm!" A stream of lava shot up into the air like  
>a geyser, and at a certain point, broke off and started to rain small<br>droplets of molten rock onto the surrounding area, burning away the  
>grass and hopefully killing his opponent. He saw that the latter would<br>not be true as he saw a small fountain of water extinguish the oncoming  
>lava. He ceased his jutsu when he saw that a majority of the grass had<br>been burnt away. Any that was left retracted into the ground. He saw his  
>attacker standing in a fighting stance with a kunai knife in each hand<br>and chuckled.

"You must be pretty stupid or brave to attack me. Either that or you don't know who I am."

Kusaaijin glared at the missing nin with anger in her eyes, "You are Zangei formerly of the Leaf, are you not?"

At the mention of his name, Zangei laughed, "So you're just stupid  
>then?" he bent his knees slightly in preparation for his assault, "So<br>tell me, what is your name?"

Kusaaijin shifted her position slightly, "I don't need to tell you that."

"Oh, but you do! That way..." Zangei leaped at her with great speed, "That way I'll know what to carve into your tombstone!"


	7. Zangei's Abilities

**Chapter 7: Zangei's Abilities**

Zangei leapt at Kusaaijin and began focusing chakra in his right hand, which formed into a short sword. "I don't have time to play with stupid little girls like you, so I'll just end this now!" He swung his chakra sword downwards. "Vertical Slice!" It looked like the attack was about to slice Kusaaijin clean in half, but the moment the sword touched her, she dissipated into a bunch of pink flower petals. The flower petals rapidly began to multiply. In a matter of seconds, Zangei was completely surrounded by pink petals. "What the hell is this? Whatever it is, I'm getting rid of it." Zangei then attempted to make some hand signs, but as soon as he began, the petals around him started spinning around him at rapid speeds and preceded to attack Zangei, dealing him numerous cuts. A vein pulsed in Zangei's temple. He once again attempted to perform a few hand signs. "Ice Style: Frost Pulse!" Ice cold energy radiated from Zangei, but the petals weren't affected at all. "Grrrrrrr... This is starting to piss me off. Release!" Most of the petals disappeared, but the remaining petals attacked Zangei. Zangei found Kusaaijin, and he once again generated a chakra sword and charged at her, assuming the rest of the petals around him were an illusion, but they were real! When Zangei realized they were real, it was too late, and he got stabbed by all of them, just barely missing his vital spots. "What the hell? The real ones should have been destroyed by my previous attack!"

"You're an idiot. The earlier attacks were by me, but of course you couldn't see because you were trapped in an illusion. The rest of those petals were created right before you released the illusion. Sheesh. I can't believe you fell for the same trick twice, idiot."

Zangei's body was twitching, and his face was turning red and it had a contorted look. Zangei also began to sweat a little bit and numerous veins were twitching in his temple. "You... You! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Zangei, charged at Kusaaijin head on with the sword in his hand, and he swung with huge force at her, but she dodged it with ease and did a hand sign. "Don't push your luck, girl!" Zangei screamed, as he swung his sword at Kusaaijin once again with massive force, but she once again dodged it with little effort, and Zangei then grabbed Kusaaijin by the throat with his hand. Zangei's chakra sword in his other hand dissipated, and Zangei then rose that hand towards the struggling Kusaaijin's face. "Die! Fire Style: Blast Palm!" A small fireball appeared in Zangei's raised palm.

"Shit!"

BOOM! The tiny fireball exploded, but the moment it exploded, 'Kusaaijin' vanished. "Genjutsu again?" The real Kusaaijin then popped out from the ground behind Zangei, and when Zangei turned around, he got punched in the face, and was sent tumbling onto the ground. Kusaaijin formed a quick hand sign. "Damn girl! I won't let you pull off any more fucking jutsu!" Zangei ran towards Kusaaijin with great speed, faster than Kusaaijin could react, and Zangei grabbed her by the throat once more, and and he hurled her onto the ground. Zangei then did a bunch of hand signs. "God damn girl! Go to hell! Lava Style: Pyroclastic Bomb!" Zangei fire from his mouth a giant super-heated black cloud which exploded into a giant super-heated black cloud upon contact with the ground. Kusaaijin was instantly enveloped by it. "Hahaha! Try escaping from that!" Zangei, his anger replaced with glee, he turned to leave, knowing that anything that gets hit by that cloud will 100% die.

"Plant Style: Piercing Root!"

Zangei looked around for where Kusaaijin's voice came from, but suddenly, a huge root erupted from the ground and pierced Zangei right through the chest taking out his heart and lungs. As his body fell to the ground, he uttered, "Genjutsu again... Damnit..."

"You really are an idiot to fall for genjutsu so many times," Kusaaijin taunted as she reappeared. She then saw Zangei's hate-filled eyes, then they became pale and unseeing. He was dead. Kusaaijin kneeled down to take a breather. "I.. I finally defeated the murderer of my brother..." Kusaaijin then stood up and turned to leave. Little did Kusaaijin realize that the wound in Zangei's chest had begun healing, and he was forming a chakra sword in his hand...


	8. Zangei's Abilities Part II

**Chapter 8: Zangei's Abilities (Part II)**

Kusaaijin had heard the sound of chakra buzzing, so she quickly turned around once again to face Zangei as she pulled out a Kunai.

"Die girl! Horizontal Slice!" Zangei swung his chakra sword sideways, but Kusaaijin blocked the sword, however, 2 slashes appeared on her face and stomach right after. "Hmph, I'm gonna speed this up. Ice Style: Glacier Encasement!" A large sky-blue glowing circle appeared where Kusaaijin stood.

"Oh Shit!" She quickly attempted to jump out of the circle, but light erupted from the circle, and a glacier now sat there, with Kusaaijin encased in it except for her upper body, but 'Kusaaijin' then dispersed into a small cloud of smoke.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. A shadow clone? Come out girl!"

The real Kusaaijin was hiding among the trees nearby. 'How the hell was he still alive,' Kusaasijin thought to herself. 'I know for a fact that I took out his heart and lungs, so he should be dead, but he is somehow still alive, and all the wounds I gave him previously have healed completely.' She continued to think to herself. 'I don't know what's going on, but I'm gonna have to try to kill him again. I don't think he knows where I am so I'll just slowly chip away at his strength...'

"Wind Style: Ripping Galestorm!" Extremely powerful winds erupted from where Zangei was standing in all directions breaking and uprooting all the trees and decimating small plants in the area, along with blasting dust everywhere. When the dust cleared, Kusaaijin was standing not to far away from Zangei with countless cuts, and remnants of plant life around her. "Done hiding girl?" Zangei's voice was full of menacing glee. "Oh I see. So you used plants to reduce the impact of my wind style, but I'm not done yet!" Zangei did a couple quick hand signs. "Ice Style: Frost Fog!" Zangei blasted from his mouth large amounts of fog, which began to envelope the battlefield. Kusaaijin quickly fled from her position to avoid the fog. Behind the fog, Zangei began to form dozens of hand signs.

"Crap. With this fog in the way, I can't attack Zangei. But if I can't see through it, he shouldn't be able to either... which means... he's just stalling for a big jutsu. From this distance, just randomly throwing shuriken or randomly using jutsu won't do anything but waste energy, which means I need to try to get rid of the fog. Let's try this..." Kusaaijin formed a hand sign. "Water Style: Scalding Wave!" Kusaaijin brought her to her mouth in the shape of a ring, and shot from her mouth boiling water towards the fog, but the moment it touched the fog, it instantly froze. "If that doesn't work, then... then there's nothing I could do... Damn it!" At that moment, the fog began to lift, and Kusaaijin quickly started running through it as she began to see Zangei's figure.

"Hmph, it's too late. Ultimate Ice Style: ABSOLUTE ZERO!" A gigantic glacier that reached 13 feet high shot out from the earth between where Kusaaijin and Zangei where standing. The glacier's extremely cold temperature filled the battlefield, causing both combatants to feel their insides freezing up, and where under extreme pain. Both Zangei and Kusaaijin where slowly dying as their internal organs where freezing up. Kusaaijin cried out in pain. Zangei however, had a look of ectasy on his face even though he was in intense pain. "Heh heh, this technique is meant to be a suicide technique, but luckily for me, and unfortunately for you girl, I'll still be alive... because... you have to 'kill' me a total of 3 times to truly kill me when I'm at full power..." Zangei then collapsed.

"Fire Style: Fire Shield!" A barrier of fire shielded Kusaaijin from the cold and began to warm her body back up to normal temperatures. Ryuu had arrived! Being sure to keep a fire barrier up in front of himself also, he ran over to see if Kusaaijin was okay. She was barely alive. Not long after, the glacier exploded and the area reverted to its normal temperature. And Zangei's 'dead' body once again arose from the dead.

"Reinforcements eh? It's no matter, because even in my far weaker, original state," Zangei then addressed Ryuu. "You expelled almost all of your chakra just to protect yourself from my jutsu. And the girl is out of condition to fight now."

"What the hell is going on? Wasn't that guy dead? Kusaaijin, could you explain the situation to me?"

"Y-yeah... umm... I already killed him once before, but he somehow healed completely and came back to life... a-and just before you came he said we have to kill him 3 times..."

"So I just have to kill him one more time, and he'll go down for good? At least i know he's not immortal..." Ryuu began to think to himself, 'But that guy is right. I have very little chakra left...'

"D-don't worry Ryuu. Plant Style: Chakra Transference Plant." A plant grew from Kusaaijin's hand, and one's of it's cord-like petals went into Ryuu's hand, and began to transfer some of Kusaaijin's remaining chakra to Ryuu. "Please defeat him," Kusaaijin then fainted.

"Don't worry Kusaaijin. I'll finish this." Ryuu then walked up to Zangei. Both he and Zangei positioned themselves into battle stances...


	9. Ryuu's Dragon Style

**Chapter 9: Ryuu's Dragon Style****:**

Zangei formed a chakra sword in his right hand, and he threw it at Ryuu. Ryuu easily dodged the attack and leapt away from Zangei and did some hand signs. 'Against an opponent like this,' Ryuu thought. 'There won't be any playing by ear.' A white dragon like entity appeared behind Ryuu. "Dragon Style: Ancient Dragon!" The dragon entity charged at Zangei with astonishing speed, and he was unable to dodge it. Zangei received a direct hit from the attack. The impact of the attack cause the area to fill with dust. Under the cover of the dust, Ryuu did some more hand signs. When the dust cleared, Zangei created another chakra sword and charged at Ryuu. Ryuu moved his right hand in a circle and did a palm thrust towards the center. At that moment, 8 kanji character appeared in a circle infront of Ryuu. From the top and around clockwise, the kanji for fire, wind, lightning, earth, water, metal, wood, and dark. In the center, the kanji character for light appeared. "Dragon Style: 9 Headed Dragon Strike!"

Zangei, in a state of slight fear, quickly formed a bunch of hand signs. "Earth Style: Earth Wall!" Some of the earth in front of him rose up to form a wall that was slightly taller and wider than Zangei himself.

Ryuu however did a simple hand seal. The moment he did, the kanji he had conjured began to glow, and energy burst from each kanji character. Each energy's element corresponded to its kanji character. The energy blasts completely obliterated the wall and Zangei took another direct hit. He manage to hold his ground against the attack. Ryuu continued his assault and generated a fire sword in his right hand and attacked Zangei.

Zangei however rapidly created a chakra sword in each hand, except in reverse hold, and he parried Ryuu's attack with such force it knocked Ryuu off balance. Zangei took advantage of this by spreading his arms preparing to swing. "You're done kid. Ninja Art: Fence Slice!" Zangei swung one sword downwards and swung the other sword sideways.

With no options left, Ryuu crossed him arms in front of his chest. "Dragon Style: Dragon Guard!"

"Too late kid!" Suddenly, Ryuu's body was covered in slashes in a chain-link fence pattern. The force of the attack sent Ryuu flying backwards. Zangei walked up to Ryuu body which was now laying on the ground. As Zangei approached, his right hand began to glow a whitish color. "Heh, I held back a tiny bit so you wouldn't die. Instead, I'm going to steal your soul."

"What the hell?"

"Well, since you shouldn't be able to move, I guess I could give you a brief explanation. I can steal up to 2 other souls. I gain the jutsu and chakra of the soul I stole. Also, for each soul I steal, my speed and physical strength increases. The final ability stealing souls grants me is the ability to sacrifice one of my other souls when I 'die' to revive myself and repair all damage my body received. Unfortunately for me, I lost both my extra souls in this fight, I'll replace them with yours and the girl's souls." Zangei then tried to plunge his right hand into Ryuu's chest, but somehow, Ryuu rolled over to dodge and the attack, and gave Zangei a hard kick to the gut, knocking the wind out of him.

Ryuu then got up in an instant and generated a fire sword in his right hand, and he took advantage of the stunned Zangei to perform a couple hand signs. Ryuu then attacked just as Zangei recovered. "Take this! Dragon Style: Dragon Hammer Strike!" Ryuu once again got a direct hit against Zangei, and the attack hit Zangei with the impact of a giant hammer, and giving a large slash down the center of his chest. The force of the attack broke Zangei's ribs and sent him flying. When he landed on the ground, he howled in pain.

Zangei grimaced in pain as he stood up, clutching his chest. Ryuu seemed to have gained speed, and he was standing in front of Zangei in mere moments, except his fire sword had dissipated and instead he held a Kunai. Ryuu then slammed Zangei in the head with the flat of side of his kunai, knocking Zangei out. After defeating Zangei, Ryuu, who was exhausted and had severe wounds, collapsed. His body and clothe were drenched in blood. Luckily, Yoshi, Akina, Surasshu, and Kurai arrived at that moment. Upon seeing Ryuu, Akina ran over to him. "Ryuu! Are you all right?" Akina hastily pulled out some cloth from her bag, which she soaked with a small water bottle she also carried. She then preceded to clean up Ryuu with it and then handed him some bandages.

Meanwhile, Yoshi and Surasshu and Kusaaijin and Zangei. Surasshu ordered Yoshi to grab Kusaaijin. Surasshu then went over to inspect Zangei. "Excellent, he's still alive. We could interrogate him and..." Surasshu stopped speaking at once. His dog, Kurainami was barking quite loudly, and he knew what that meant. He rushed over to Kurai, and whispered to him what he just learned.

Kurai expression had the shadow of being worried. "shit..." He muttered. "Hey guys! We need to get the hell out of here. Before Kuros-"

"Well hello there..."

Everyone looked to see where this voice came from, and to their horror, they saw 3 cloaked figures. It was Kuroshi, Kawa, and Senko. Kuroshi then spoke. "heh, it seems that Zangei was defeated. So tell me Kurai, did those kids do it?"

Kurai responded with a tone of annoyance. "And if they did?"

"Oh so they did? You've found an interesting bunch. Anyways, Senko and Kawa, I'll let you fight them. In the meantime, I'll continue my search for Narako. I know he's somewhere near here..."

At that, Kuroshi, moved so fast he disappeared in less than a blink of an eye. The 2 figures remaining stepped up prepared to battle.


	10. Chasing Narako

**Narako**

**Name:** Narako Tizashi  
><strong>Rank:<strong> S-Class missing nin (only because the ninja villages have just recently learned about his existence)  
><strong>Age:<strong> 43  
><strong>Gender:<strong> Male  
><strong>Village:<strong> unknown  
><strong>Physical Description:<strong>5 feet, 10 inches tall, full built body of a man.  
>Deep brown eyes and a scar that reaches from above his left eye down to<br>the right corner of his muscular with long, seemingly uncut  
>black hair in the back that reaches his shoulders while the front is<br>just above his eyebrows. Has a black tanktop that the middle is open,  
>kind of like a button down but no buttons so the front is open. The<br>bottom of the shirt is jagged around the edges. Long black pants with  
>several rips from weapon cuts and short boots that are light weight. Tattoos flourish his upper arms and a set of tribal tattoos<br>around the middle of his forearm.

**Chapter 10: Chasing Narako:**

Kawa and Senko stepped forward, and prepared to battle. Senko then spoke to Kawa. "See Kawa? This is why I said we should have just killed the 2 jonin in our previous encounter. As long as they are alive they will interfere with us, and they even brought kids now who took out Zangei."

"Just shut it Senko alright? I didn't expect these idiots to continue to interfere with us after we mopped the floor with them. Maybe this time we'll just capture them."

"Wouldn't it be easier to just kill them?" 'and probably less painful for them too,' Senko thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Kurai, Surasshu, Yoshi, Akina, and Ryuu just watched Senko and Kawa bicker. "Maybe we could take this as an opportunity to escape," Akina suggested.

"They'll just attack us if we try to," Kurai answered. "Surasshu, take Ryuu with you and go look for Narako. Since you are good at tracking, you'll likely find Narako before Kuroshi does. I hope that Narako will help us instead of Kuroshi, otherwise it could get ugly for you guys. In the meantime, the rest of us will keep Senko and Kawa occupied." Kurai then spoke to Yoshi and Akina. "You 2 fight Kawa. I don't expect you 2 to defeat him, so just try to stay alive." He then resumed talking to Surasshu. "I hoped to interrogate Zangei, but considering the situation at hand, just finish Zangei off. It would be really bad if he awoke in the middle of the fight. Surasshu, you and Ryuu escape as soon as me, Yoshi, and Akina distract Senko and Kawa."

Surasshu then walked over and stomped Zangei in the neck really hard, breaking it. "Done. But what about Kusaaijin?"

Kurai then summoned Ichimogura. "Ichimogura, can you guys take the girl over there someplace safe.

"Right," he said. He then picked up Kusaaijin, and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kawa, tired of arguing with Senko, simply told him to fight Kurai and Surashu. "I'll fight the kids. Do what you want what the other 2."

"Fine." Senko suddenly disappeared, much to Ryuu's, Yoshi's, and Akina's shock. He then suddenly reappeared in an instant in front of Kurai with a kunai is his hand and attacked.

"Shit!" Kurai tried to dodge but he got slashed in the chest. Senko then teleported back to where he was initially standing. Kurai then formed a hand sign. "Earth Style: Rampart of Flowing Soil!" A mountain of earth then rose up from beneath Kurai's feet. Senko and Kawa simply watched with a bored looks on their faces. Kurai formed a few more hand signs. "Take this! Earth Style: Mountain Landslide!" He then slammed his palm of the ground, and half of the earth mountain began to collapse, resulting in a huge landslide heading towards Senko and Kawa. At that moment, Ryuu and Surasshu fled along with Surasshu's dog Kurainami to search for Narako.

Kawa simply did a hand sign. "Hmph. Water Style: Jelly Shield!" A giant jelly-like barrier appeared in front of Kawa. Senko however began running towards the landslide. He then began to move at shocking speed, and he preceded to jump up the landslide, landing on each rock he jumped from for less than a millisecond, until he reached the top of the mountain.

"Oh no you don't!" Kurai yelled. He then grabbed one of the pickaxes held on his back, and lept at Senko and swung his pickax.

"Too easy." Senko disappeared once more and was suddenly behind Kurai, and slashed Kurai in the back with his kunai, and then gave Kurai a hard kick, sending him down the landslide.

The rocks from the landslide finally reached Kawa, and his jelly barrier. It was all blocked by the barrier, and the barrier then flung all of it back where it came from like a slingshot. Kurai, who was just sent flying down, got slammed in the gut by one the rocks, and once again sent flying, except in the opposite direction. Akina and Yoshi then jumped down towards Kawa.

*Elsewhere*

"Ryuu! Narako is very close to where we are." Surasshu and Ryuu where running on a road within the nearby forest following Narako's trail. Surasshu was using his ability to track Narako by scent, which was a common ability among clans who specialized in training ninja dogs.

Unfortunately, Narako's wolf had smelled those approaching. Narako understood his wolf's gestures. "I see..." Narako said to himself. He then pulled out one of his extra shirts from his bag, and cut it up into several pieces, and threw it into the air. Narako then quickly did a couple hand signs. "Wind Style: Whirlwind!" A small tornado formed in front of Narako and spread the pieces of his shirt all around.

Surasshu had also scented the sudden multiplication of Narako's scent, spreading everywhere. "Damn it! Narako is aware of our approach, and he somehow spread his scent all over the place!"

"Then what the heck do we do?"

"Ryuu, do you know the Shadow Cone technique?"

"No."

"Crap. Well, I guess I could do it, but my skill at it is horrible. I could only make a few clones without severely reducing my chakra, but since I have no choice, I'll do it." Surasshu then formed a hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 3 clones of Surasshu appeared, which the real Surasshu told to each follow one of the scents, and if that scent was no good, then follow a different one. The clones then left. "Alright Ryuu, let's go pick a scent ourselves."

*Someplace else in the forest*

Kuroshi was also searching for Narako. "Let's see if this makes things faster," said. He then bit his thumb, and slammed the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" A puff of smoke appeared, which 5 small, black phoenixes, coated in blue flames appeared. Kuroshi then spoke to them. "I want you 5 to help me look for someone. If you find him, burn a tree closest to you to let me know." Kuroshi then described Narako to the birds. They nodded in unison, and flew away in different directions searching for Narako. Kuroshi then resumed searching for Narako himself.

*Back to Ryuu and Surasshu*

Ryuu and Surasshu were once more running along the path. Suddenly, they began to notice some footprints, which led out of the path, and into the heart of the forest. "Lucky us. We ourselves picked the right trail." Surasshu then did a hand sign, which dispersed his clones. Surasshu, Ryuu, and Kurainami then began to follow Narako's real trail.


	11. Slicing Lightning, Burning Bubbles

**Chapter 11: Slicing Lightning, Burning Water**

After having been sent flying by getting hit by a boulder, Kurai landed on his back just behind Senko and quickly got up.

"Tsk tsk, I knew you and the leaf guy with the dog would continue to interfere if we let you live, but noooooo, Kawa insisted on sparing you 2, and guess what? You guys are still getting in our way, even killing Zangei." Senko was visibly annoyed at Kawa. Senko simply teleported behind Kurai. "I guess I'll play with you a bit with this kunai." Senko then began run in circles around Kurai at sonic speed causing dust to kick up and cover the area. Senko only slowed down to slash Kurai with his kunai in various places.

"Damn it!" Kurai then blindly swung one of his pickaxes trying to stop Senko's attacks. Senko easily dodged, and reappeared a little ways in front of Kurai.

"Is that all you could do? Well, since this time I'm going to kill you, why don't you tell me your name before I kill you."

"Hmph. Kurai Kichigai."

"I see. Well then Kurai, shall we continue?" Senko sprinted towards Kurai so fast he was directly in front of Kurai instantaneously and he tried to slash Kurai across the face, but Kurai, with great reflexes, grabbed Senko's wrist, and spun 180 degrees, and threw Senko so hard, it caused Senko to start tumbling down the other side of the hill Kurai had created.

Kurai performed some hand signs and then slammed his palm on the ground. "Earth Style: Mountain Crush!" Huge cracks began to appear in earth hill, which then preceded to collapse in a huge landslide on both sides.

*Meanwhile*

Kawa was dodging most of Yoshi's and Akina's attacks, and seemed to be making no effort to attack. After Yoshi's and Akina's attacks stopped, Kawa then spoke. "Come on kids. Why don't you 2 just join us or get out of the our way so I don't have to kill you."

"Don't be so arrogant!" Yoshi angrily responded.

Kawa sighed. "I guess I'll just knock out and tie you 2 up then."

"Umm, Yoshi?"

"What is it Akina- WAIT WHAT THE HELL?" Yoshi had just noticed the gargantuan landslide headed towards their way. He and Akina jumped a little ways back, and Yoshi formed a hand sign. "Wind Style: Repulsion Gusts!" Yoshi stuck out his hands out, and a barrier of wind formed, blocking all the debris from the land slide.

Meanwhile, Kawa was apparently sitting above the area inside a bubble. "Great. Now the area is filled with places to hide. This will only make things harder for me..." Kawa sighed once more. "I really don't want to have to kill them, but if shit like this continues to happen, I may have to." Kawa sighed yet again. Kawa formed a hand sign, and his bubble popped. Kawa landed on the ground. The area was indeed filled with various debris such as large boulders. The area was now full of hiding spots much to Kawa's dismay.

"Phew, that was a close one." Yoshi said. He and Akina were indeed hiding behind a boulder.

"Don't you think this Kawa guy seems different from Senko and what we heard about Kuroshi and Zangei?"

"Yeah. It appears he may be the nice guy of the quartet, but it could just be an act..."

"It can't be an act. Otherwise, Kurai and Surasshu would've been dead. And remember, Kawa and Senko were arguing about whether to kill us or not."

"Yeah, but still..."

"Water Style: Aqua Vortex!" A large vortex of water surrounded Kawa, and began to expand, ripping up an debris it makes contact with. In no time, in enveloped where Akina and Yoshi and flung them in the air. After that, the water collapsed, and reverted to a small, very shallow lake of water. When Yoshi and Akina landed on the ground, they were bruised and dirty, but otherwise okay.

When Yoshi got up he brushed himself off a bit. "Ouch ouch, that was a lot of water, but there's no water in the area, so how did he-" Yoshi's eyes then looked over to where Kawa was standing and he say 3 scrolls unrolled on the ground in front of Kawa's feet with the kanji symbol for water in the center. The kanji symbols soon faded away.

Kawa instantly formed some hand signs and put his right hand to his mouth in a ring, and lept up into the air. "Bubble Style: Bubble Bombs!" Kawa shot countless large bubbles from his mouth, gliding down towards Yoshi's and Akina's general area at great speed. The bubbles exploded upon contact with anything much to Akina's and Yoshi's horror. They tried to dodge them all, but it was in vain, and Yoshi got hit in the chest by about 10 of the bubbles, which all exploded, resulting in a semi-large explosion. Another bubble glanced off Akina's head, and it exploded, along with a few bubbles hitting her in the lower legs.

After the explosions, there was large hole in Yoshi's shirt where he was hit, and his chest was bloody. Akina's upper head had some blood on it, and blood ran down her left cheek. Her blood also ran down her legs. Yoshi performed a pair of hand signs, and put right his hand to his mouth. "Wind Style: Fog Blockade!" Yoshi blew out fog from mouth, which covered a large area, including Kawa.

Kawa once more formed some lightning-fast hand signs and brought his right hand to his mouth again. "Bubble Style: Bubble Bath!" Kawa blasted out a large wave of containing a mix of bubbles and boiling hot water, which completely evaporated the fog.

"Oh no!" Akina cried. She quickly did a single hand seal, and chakra began to build up in her hands. "Ninja Art: Chakra Seal Shot!" She fired from both hands small balls of chakra at the wave of water and bubbles, but when they made contact, it seemed to do nothing. The wave of water then crashed over Yoshi and Akina, resulting in large amounts of steam billowing out. When it cleared, Yoshi and Akina had only received minor burns on their bodies.

Kawa seemed slightly surprised. "Hmm, I expected it to at least deal out over 1st degree burns. I guess the girl's jutsu somehow weakened my attack."

Yoshi did a few hand signs, resulting in some electricity building up in his left hand. "Lightning Style: Racing Lightning!" Yoshi stuck his hand in the water in front of him, causing a current of lightning running through the water at astounding speed towards Kawa.

"Crap. The water is conducting the electricity!" Kawa formed a single hand sign just as the lightning was about to make contact. An explosion occurred.

"Quick Akina! While's he distracted, run and hide, and prepare your spirit bow."

"Right!" Akina then quickly found a hiding spot.

When the dist cleared, Kawa was surrounded by a bubble. "It'll take more than that to beat me." The bubble dissipated, and Kawa performed numerous hand signs extremely fast. "Water Style: Triple Water Dragon Jutsu!" 3 water dragons formed in front of Kawa and prepared to attack Yoshi. "Hmm? The girl is gone. Oh well." The dragons then attacked Yoshi.

"Wind Style: Repulsion Gusts!" Yoshi stuck his hands out, and a barrier of wind was formed again. However, the water dragons were relentless, and continued to charge at the barrier. "Shit!" The dragons broke through the barrier, but one of them dissipated. One of the other 2 hit Yoshi hard in the gut, and the other slammed into his face. Yoshi thought he blacked out for a moment. When he landed on the ground, he nearly fell down onto the ground. He felt ready to faint any moment. "Hyah!" Yoshi exerted some energy trying to prevent being defeated.

"Tough kid. At this rate, I may be forced to kill you." Kawa sighed.

Meanwhile, Akina was forming a white chakra bow in her hands. 'Almost done...' she thought. 'Please hang on a little bit longer Yoshi.'

*Kurai and Senko's battle*

Meanwhile, Kurai was getting beaten up by Senko's relentless attacks, for Kurai's landslide failed to defeat Senko. In fact, it did nothing. Senko's stopped attacking for a moment. "Hmm, I find it almost unfair the way it's going, so how about I slow down a bit ehh?" Senko once more charged at Kurai, except this time, Senko was actually visible. Kurai was now able to block his attacks. Senko however seeing this new development, sped up a bit, going slightly slower than sound.

"Ugh." Kurai managed to parry one of Senko's attacks, but he was then given a hard punch to the face. Senko then kneed Kurai in the gut so hard that Kurai coughed out blood. Senko then pulled spun around and slammed Kurai in the face once more with his right foot, sending Kurai flying. When Kurai got up, his head was bruised and bleeding.

"This is boring. I'm just gonna kill you now." Senko disappeared and was standing in front of Kurai in an instant, and prepared to slice Kurai's throat with his kunai.

'NOW'S THE OPENING!' Kurai told himself. He grabbed Senko's kunai with his left hand and wrenched it towards himself. Senko's right hand was pulled below Kurai's left arm, and Kurai locked Senko's hand under his arm. Kurai then grabbed his pickaxe attacked to his back, and swung it down. Senko realizing what was happening, tried to free his hand from under Kurai's arm. When he finally achieved this, Senko barely avoided a fatal blow, but he still received a huge gash down his chest. He screamed in pain. Kurai didn't delay in his actions, and he side kicked Senko in the chest, causing Senko to be sent flying backwards and scream in pain again. As Senko struggled to stand up, he clutched his chest and he groaned and moaned in pain. His face grimaced in agony.

"You... bastard..." Senko forced out. Kurai however sprinted towards Senko, this time grabbing his second pickaxe with his other hand, and swung at Senko. Senko failed to dodge it completely and he received another slash on his left arm. "Ahh, ahh, augh! AUGH!" Senko was now clutching both his left arm and his chest with his right hand. Senko was panting heavily.

"Well I guess you have 2 Achilles' heels. 1 is the fact that you can't move at sonic speed and deal out finishing blows to me at the same time, along with the obvious fact that you have to stop to attack when you teleport. The second, apparently, is the fact that you have very low pain tolerance."

"Damn you! Damn you! Damn you! DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME!" Senko suddenly appeared behind Kurai, and grabbed Kurai by the neck, and threw him hard.

'Shit!' Kurai thought. 'Did Senko use sheer will to overcome the pain?'

Senko, still panting heavily, then pulled out a scroll from his pocket, and smeared his blood on it. Senko then threw it in the air and formed a hand sign. "Weapons Summoning!" 10 puffs of smoke emitted form the scroll and 10 short, double edged swords appeared. "Time to show you one of my secret techniques! 10 Swords Dance!"


	12. Bubbling Emotion

**Chapter 12: Bubbling Emotion**

Yoshi was very woozy from the last attack he received from Kawa's water dragon. He was using all his will power just to stay conscious. Yoshi formed a single hand sign. "Wind Style: Crescent Current!" Yoshi moved his hand in a downwards in a slashing movement. A near invisible crescent then formed and charged at Kawa.

Kawa performed some hand signs, and put his right hand to his mouth. "Bubble Style: Pepper Foam Spray!" Foam shot from Kawa's mouth, towards the air crescent and towards Yoshi. The crescent disappeared upon with the foam, which hit Yoshi knocking him over.

"Augh!" Yoshi yelled, for he suddenly felt all his wounds and his eyes burn and itch. Blinded, Yoshi tried rubbing his eyes, but it didn't help.

Kawa sprinted towards Yoshi but was getting ready to jump on top of Yoshi, but he was suddenly stopped by a white, spirit like arrow, which was shot towards Kawa behind some of the rocks. Kawa barely dodged the arrow itself, but the arrow exploded upon contact with the earth, and the blast knocked Kawa over. 5 more arrows were shot at Kawa just as he was standing up. He quickly did a hand sign, and stuck his out in front of himself. "Bubble Style: Bubble Shield." A bubble surrounded Kawa, which blocked all th arrows with ease. "Now that I know where you are girl, it's my turn now!" Kawa did a bunch of hand signs again. "Water Style: Exploding Water Shock Wave!" Kawa blasted a wave of water from his mouth in the direction the arrows came from.

Akina was in fact where Kawa guessed. "Uh oh! This is bad!"

The pain in Yoshi's eyes was beginning to fade, and he was able to open his eyes a little bit. He saw the wave of water with horror, and knew where it was heading. He rushed in front of the attack while forming many hand signs. He then stuck his hands out towards the water. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!" A small ball of air formed in Yoshi's hands, and then exploded into a huge mass of wind, completely splitting apart the water wave and sending Kawa flying backwards and ripping off his cloak, leaving a gray t-shirt and dark blue pants.

Akina then prepared some more arrows. "This time, I'll put more chakra into it." She then fired 5 arrows consecutively at Kawa.

After hitting the ground, Kawa quickly got up, only to meet 5 arrows coming his way. Kawa then dodged all of them by doing a bunch of back-flips. This time however, the arrows exploded with more force and they carried more heat. generating fire. When Kawa saw the fire, his eyes widened and he stared in horror. He began to sweat and started panting heavily and rapidly. Kawa then went down to his knees, and his hands were clutching his head. "AAAAAAUGH!"

Akina and Yoshi were shocked at Kawa's sudden reaction. "What the hell?" Yoshi said. But Yoshi decided not to worry about and take it as an opportunity to attack. He then formed a few hand signs. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!" A small of ball of air formed in Yoshi outstretched hands once more, and then exploded. At the same time, Akina shot a bunch of arrows.

Kawa having just noticed what is going, he formed a bubble shield, which blocked most of the attacks, but he still received many cuts from Yoshi's attacks. The wind however increased the size of the flames in the area. Kawa panicked and formed another hand sign. "Augh! Water Style: Heaven Waterfall!" A waterfall came from the sky, and aiming towards the fire, and put it out. Still however, Kawa was panting heavily. He was near hyperventilation.

*Kawa's Flashback*

A small child was running through a forest towards his village with a bucket of water he collect from a nearby river cheerfully. He had dark green hair which extended to just above his eyebrows on the front, and they covered half his ears on the sides. His hair on the back was slightly longer than the front. He had grey eyes. Suddenly he smelled smoke. He then sprinted towards his village, only to find it completely in flames. "NOOO! Father! Mother!"

The child was running through his village in horror hoping to find his parents still alive. He then found his house which was on fire like all the other buildings, and then he found his parents dead bodies, with kunai embedded in them. he collapsed to his knees, and preceded to cry. Suddenly, he sensed someone, and looked up, only to see a tall and muscular man standing in front of him with a kunai in his hand.

"Looks like one is still alive." He then smirked and grabbed the child by the collar.

The child however screamed at him with a mix of anger, fear, and sorrow. "You- You Bastard!" the child swiped at the man's face with his hand, and apparently scratched one of the man's eyes really hard with his fingers.

"ARGH!" The man's eye was closed shut and blood was coming out. The man in a fury through the child into the flaming building. The child landed in one of the few spots that wasn't flaming. However, the fire was inching ever closer to him. "Ha ha, take that!" Just as the man turned around, there was a female mist shinobi standing in front of him with a sword in her hand, and she stabbed the man right through the heart.

She was apparently just passing on her way back to the Mist Village after finishing a mission. She then quickly formed a couple hand signs. "Water Style: Raging Water Waves!" She shot from her mouth a small blast of water onto the house the child was trapped in. She then went inside, and found the child, who was physically alright. She then picked up the crying child, and brought him with her back to the village.

*end of flashback*

Kawa's panic faded, and he stared at Yoshi with bloodlust in his eyes. Completely different from before. "I changed my mind. I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

*Meanwhile in a small clearing in the nearby forest*

Ryuu and Surasshu along with Kurainami were standing on one side, facing Narako who was standing on the other side. Surasshu then spoke. "We finally found you."

"Why are you following me?" Narako asked with slight annoyance.

"We need your help." Ryuu said. "We need to defeat a man named Kuroshi and his allies."

"Kuroshi ehh? I've heard of him. He's also been following me. Fine, I'll help you guys under one condition. Fight me."

"But we don't have the time!" Ryuu exclaimed.

Surasshu however gave a trace of a smirk. "Fine. 5 minutes."

"No!" Ryuu yelled, but Surasshu put his hand in front of Ryuu.

"If he'll join us for it, Then we might as well take it." Surasshu then spoke to Narako. "We'll fight, but let me add something. No chakra. Regular taijutsu only."

"Fine."

They both spoke at once. ""LET'S GO!"" They both charged at each other with their fists raised.


	13. Hopeless Battles?

**Chapter 13: Hopeless Battles?**

Kawa's eyes were filled with bloodlust, and he formed some instantaneous hand signs. "Water Style: Condensing Vortex!" The water vapors in the air condensed into a huge typhoon of water around Kawa, and began to spread out with huge force and cover the area.

"Oh crap! This is really bad!" Yoshi exclaimed. He did a couple hand signs, and stuck his hands out. "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" A large gale of wind formed, and blocked the water, eventually spreading it out and the chakra in the water dissipated, and the water lost its shape, leaving a large amount of water on the ground. However, Kawa suddenly appeared in front of Yoshi, and punched him in the gut. The punch caused Yoshi to cough up blood and was sent flying.

"Yoshi!" Akina cried. From her hiding spot, she fired a pair of arrows at Kawa.

Kawa saw the arrows coming and faced that direction, and he made a bunch of rapid hand signs. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" A large vortex of water formed in midair directly in front of Kawa. It then erupted in a huge wave of water which stopped the arrows and swept up any debris in its path, along with completely engulfing where Akina was hiding.

"Akina!" Infuriated, Yoshi charged at Kawa with his right fist raised. He swung his fist, aiming for Kawa's face, but Kawa blocked Yoshi's punch, and he gave Yoshi an uppercut to the chin, shooting Yoshi into the air.

"Time to die." Kawa performed a few high-speed dozen hand signs. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu, x10!" 10 water dragons appeared out the water, and preceded to brutally beat the crap out of Yoshi.

***Kurai vs Senko***

After summoning 10 swords from his scroll and jumping into the air, Senko preceded to begin rapidly throwing the swords in the air at Kurai one after the other. Kurai dodged all of them. Senko then landed on the ground, and he grabbed a pair of swords. Kurai, grabbed the second pickaxe strapped to his back with his free. Senko then charged at Kurai with his 2 swords, and swung them. Kurai dodged the first, and then tried to block the second one. However, Senko's swords were charged with lightning chakra, and one of Kurai's pickaxes was sliced in half, and Kurai received a huge slash diagonally right shoulder, down to the left side of his torso. Using the momentum from his second strike, Senko spun around, and then threw the sword he used for his first strike at Kurai, which successfully hit Kurai's right arm, piercing right through it. With his right hand free, Senko grabbed another sword with it.

Senko lifted the sword in his left hand above Kurai's head, and swung it downwards. Kurai jumped back to avoid the attack, but Senko threw the sword in his right at Kurai while Kurai paying attention to the sword above him. Kurai evaded it by pure luck, but Senko had once more used his momentum to spin around, and with the sword in his left hand, and swing vertically again. Kurai pulled his head back to avoid a fatal wound, but he still got slashed down the center of his chest. Senko once more grabbed a sword from the ground. Senko continued to constantly slash, rotate, throw, grab another sword, until Kurai was left with numerous slashes covering his body.

'Ugh,' Kurai thought. 'This 10 Swords Dance is impossible to keep up with. Senko's unpredictable, yet graceful attacks are extremely difficult to evade.'

Senko on the other hand, was now panting heavily and clutching his chest. Seems he was still affected by the pain. "I'm going to finish this now!" Senko then began to one-by-one, throw the swords into the air. After all 10 were once more in midair, Senko leaped into the air. "And now, the curtains shall be closed, as I finish you off!" Senko declared. He then began to throw all of the swords at Kurai consecutively. Kurai dodged all of them except for 2 of them which pierced Kurai in the right thigh and the second slashed Kruai's right side. With his remaining pickaxe, Kurai jumped up towards Senko and swung it at him. However, Senko pulled his hands upwards as if he was pulling on strings, and then with his right, he pushed on the side of Kurai's pickaxe to push himself to the side, dodging Kurai's attack. Suddenly, in the spot where he was pierced by one of the swords Senko had just thrown, he felt... wire...

Kurai turned around and saw in shock, all the swords that were just thrown at him earlier once more headed in his direction. Kurai managed to turn around in midair, and swing at the tips of the blades at the swords with his pickaxe, sending them flying away. When Kurai landed on the ground, he turned once more to face Senko.

"Heh, you ARE good." Senko said. "But we are just getting started."

Kurai was worn out. He was seriously wounded and his chakra is started to get low. Senko however had 1 gash down his chest and another on his arm.

***Yoshi + Akina vs Kawa***

After being knocked over by the water, Akina tried to get up, but her body ached. She was badly bruised by Kawa's attack, but she managed to prevent the worst with her Chakra Seal Shot. 'His attacks...' she thought. 'His attacks, they're completely different from before. He's trying to kill now...' Running low on chakra, Akina's spirit bow was beginning to fall apart. When she looked up, she saw with horror, Yoshi being severely beaten by Kawa's 10 water dragons. Akina then began to fire a bunch of arrows at the dragons. 7 of the dragons were hit by the arrows and dissipated into normal water. Now in the open, Kawa saw Akina, and formed some hand signs.

"Water Style: Condensing Needle Rain!" Water Vapor began to condense once more, except this time in the shape of needles. They began to rain down on Akina, and she did her best to get out the way, unknowingly moving closer to Kawa. Meanwhile, Yoshi was getting maliciously beaten to death by Kawa's remaining water dragons. Akina, with her back towards Kawa's direction, did not realize the danger she in it was too late. Kawa grabbed her by the back of the neck, and he threw her to the side into the ground with considerable force, causing Akina to drop her bow, which slowly began to dissapear. Kawa then grabbed Akina once more by the throat, and began to choke her. Akina struggled to free herself, but it to no avail.

Yoshi was still getting beat by the 3 water dragons, and one slammed him into the ground. Just as another of the water dragons charged at Yoshi for the death blow, Yoshi, seeing his friend being suffocated, mustered his energy to dodge the dragon by rolling to the side, forming a bunch of of hand signs. He stuck his palm out towards the 3 water dragon charging at him on the ground. "Lightning Style: Blast Bolt!" An explosion of electricity was formed out of Yoshi's hand, which obliterated the remaining dragons. Yoshi, wanting to save Akina, grabbed a kunai, and despite being bruised worse than Akina, and also having some bad wounds from earlier attacks, he pulled out a kunai with his right hand from his shuriken/kunai holster, and charged at Kawa. "Stay away from Akina, bastard!"

Yoshi swung his kunai at Kawa, but Kawa turned and used Akina as a shield. Yoshi, predicting this, purposely missed and took an extra step forward, once more swinging his kunai in an attempt to stab Kawa's side. It succeeded and Kawa dropped Akina, and formed some hand signs as he jumped back. "Drown! Bubble Style: Bubble Prison!" Kawa shot out a bunch of bubbles from his mouth, which then expanded in size. Akina, gasping for breath, did not notice and was engulfed in one of the bubbles. The bubbles were filled with water. Yoshi tried his best to dodge all the bubbles, but he eventually got caught in one. Both he and Akina were immobile while inside the water-filled bubbles and were slowly drowning...


	14. Draining Strength

**Chapter 14: Draining Strength**

Yoshi and Akina were trapped inside water filled bubbles completely immobile. Their heads was aching. In about 2 minutes they would die. "Damn.. it.." Yoshi gurgled out. 'Hurry up!' Yoshi thought. 'Hurry and start working!'

Akina however was losing consciousness. She gurgled out some bubbles and fainted.

Kawa seemed to be enjoying the fact that his 2 victims were drowning. Kawa eyes were still crazed. However, he did not seem to notice that there was some purple liquid oozing out from where he was stabbed by Yoshi's kunai.

***Meanwhile, underground near the battlefield***

Kusaaijin opened her eyes to find herself in a dimly lit room with earth walls. She was laying a soft bed of earth under a fabric blanket. She sat up and scanned her surroundings and she saw Kurai's trusty mole Ichimogura. "Ichimogura!"

The mole who was sleeping too, awakened with a shock at hearing his name get called. "Oh. You're awake." The mole then went over to what was similar to a cupboard. "Kurai and the others are fighting Kuroshi's group, and I was ordered to taje care of you. Is there anything you would like to eat? We have uhh... hardtack and... walnuts? Dangit, I told Kurai I wanted peanuts, NOT walnuts!" Ichimogura preceded to stomp around for a bit. "Anyways, that's all we have, so what do you want?"

"Actually, I actually wish to return to the surface..."

"You can't do that! It's too dangerous! In your current state, you'll die!"

"Then what if the others fighting up there die, huh?"

"I can't let you go back up!"

"WELL I DON'T CARE! I DON'T WANT RYUU TO DIE!"

Kusaaijin's raised voice made the mole jump. The mole began to think whether he should let Kusaaijin out or not. The the mole spoke. "Do you love Ryuu?"

"W-w-what?" "N-n-no! Of course not!" Although Kusaaijin denied it, she couldn't help but blush.

The mole gave a faint trace of a smile and then began to walk over to the walls. "Well, as you wish. I shall let you go up there and help the others."

***Forest Clearing***

Narako and Surasshu were facing each other, panting. Ryuu and Kurainami was staring at the 2 in disbelief. Narako and Surasshu had been engaged in taijutsu-only combat for a couple minutes. Just as they prepared to continue their match, Surasshu and Kurainami suddenly smelled a very odd scent. It smelled like... a mix of fire and a bird...

Suddenly, the trees around the foursome burst into blue flames. "What the hell?" Narako yelled.

Not too far away, Kuroshi saw the flames. "Excellent. Finally found Narako." Kuroshi then began to sprint towards the location so fast he was near-invisible.

"Crap!" Surasshu yelled. "We need to get out of here!" Just as he said that, a wall of blue fire surrounded them.

Narako then formed some hand signs. "Let me handle this. Ninja Art: Lightning Ooze!" Narako brought his right hand to his mouth in the shape of a ring and shot out from his mouth green-ish liquid crackling with electricity. When it made contact with the fire, the fire was doused, leaving a gap in the wall of fire.

"Woah what was that?" Ryuu exclaimed.

"I'll explain later kid. Let's go!"

"Not so fast."

Suddenly Kuroshi appeared directly in front of the four others, with a sword in his left-hand, and his right hand was forming a single-handed hand sign. It was jet-black from the blade all the way to the handle. The sword was a single edged and the blade was a about 2 feet long while the handle was a little over 6-7 inches. "Dark Style: Shadow Dragon!" Kurohi swung his sword at the quartet.

Surasshu, Narako, Ryuu, and Kurainame all dodged the attack. "What was that?" said Surashu. "It was just a basic sword swing-" Suddenly the they felt a sensation as if some of their chakra was drained.

Kuroshi's right hand once more formed some hand signs. Kuroshi then wedged his sword in the ground."Fire Style: Splitting Flames!" Kuroshi ran his sword through the earth ending with an upwards swing. A line of fire formed and raced towards the three others with great speed. Surasshu jumped over it and grabbed Ryuu and Kurainami with him. Narako lept to the side. While the four weren't paying attention, Kuroshi jumped into the air and once more formed single-handed hand signs with his right hand. "Dark Style: Phoenix Hellfire!" Kuroshi brought his hand to his mouth and blasted from his mouth a large mass of blue fire.

"Shit." Narako quickly formed hand signs. "Water Style: Condensing Water Mouth!" The water vapor in the condensed and then blocked Kuroshi's wave of fire. All of the fire in the area was then vaporized, but the attack itself also returned to normal water.

"Hmph. I'm not done yet!" Kuroshi formed a hand sign again, and charged down toward Surasshu. "Dark Style: Shadow Dragon!" Kuroshi swung his sword downwards at Surasshu. Surasshu pulled out a kunai and attempted to parry the attack, but his kunai was sliced in half and Surasshu was slashed. he felt a slightly larger amount of his chakra was drained then before.

"Crap!" Surasshu then aimed a kick at Kuroshi, but Kuroshi dodged it with ease. Suddenly, Surasshu's dog Kurainami appeared behind Kuroshi. "Let' go Kurainami!" Surasshu yelled, and he went down on all fours. "Fang over Fang!" The pair both spun towards Kuroshi at rapid speeds.

Kuroshi dodged Kurainami, but he was hit by Surasshu int he stomach hurling him backwards. Kuroshi managed to stay on his feet when he landed but where got hit was cut up. Kuroshi formed some hand signs with his right hand again. "Dark Style: Cursed Fireball!" Kuroshi shot from his mouth a colossal blue fireball at the four.

Narako and Ryuu both started performing hand signs. ""Water Style: Great Water Splash!"" They both yelled and shot a large wave of water form their mouths at the gargantuan fireball. The fireball was only reduced to a 3rd of it's original size, and to everyone's horror, another giant fireball followed and completely engulfed the four. The quartet were left seriously burned by the extremely hot fire.

Surasshu noticed Ryuu was panting very heavily. 'He must be worn out form his fight with Zangei,' Surasshu thought. "Ryuu."

"What?"

"Go find cover now. Narako and I don't want to have to worry about you. Be honest Ryuu. You don't have much chakra do you?"

"No... I don't..."

Kuroshi was watching the 4 just standing there. "Are you guys gonna attack me or what?"

"Oh yeah, we'll attack you," said Surasshu. He then pulled out some smoke bombs from his pocket and chucked them at Kuroshi. "Now Ryuu, hide!"

"Child's play," Kuroshi said. "Dark Style: Nightmare Flame!" Blue fire erupted form the smoke that covered Kuroshi, causing the smoke to dissipate. The blue flames charged at the foru before Ryuu could find cover.

Ryuu formed a few hand signs. "Water Style: Water Wall!" Ryuu shot water form his mouth, but the flames easily caused the water to evaporate and continue their path.

Narako performed a hand sign. "Ninja Art: Ripping Water!" The water in the area attacked the flames and ripped the flames to shreds and then extinguished it. Unfortunately, Kuroshi had just shot countless small blue fireballs. Narako got hit by many of them. He felt like his energy was drained by the fireballs. Surasshu did a better job at dodging the fireballs, but he still got hit by a fair share of them and so did Kurainami. Ryuu got hit by many of them too, and he was rendered unconscious due to extremely low chakra.

Kuroshi then appeared in front of Surasshu. "Shadow Dragon!" Kurohi slashed Surasshu once more. Kuroshi then gave Surasshu a hard kick to the chest.

Narako charged at Kuroshi with his right fist clenched. Chakra was forming around it. "Ninja Art: Thunder Cyclone Fist!" He attempted to uppercut Kuroshi from behind, but Kuroshi sensed Narako and he back flipped landing behind Narako and he slashed Narako in the back with such force that Narako was sent flying.

Kuroshi then licked his blood-stained blade. "Hmph. No matter how hard you guys try, you can't beat me."


	15. Two Steps

A little late... Anyways, for one of the new jutsus introduced in this chapter, I will use it's Japanese name simply because it sounds better than the English translation imo.

**Chapter 15: Two Steps**

**Spoiler**:

Narako, Surasshu, Ryuu, and Surasshu's ninja dog Kurainami were facing Kuroshi. Narako and Surasshu's dog Kurainami still seemed to be full of energy. Surasshu and Ryuu however looked extremely worn out. 'Crap!' Surasshu thought. 'I have taken many direct hits from Kuroshi's chakra draining attacks.' Surasshu then formed a hand sign. "Narako. I only have enough chakra left to use one more attack. Can you back me up?"

"I think it should be the other way around. I'll distract Kuroshi and when you see an opening, attack him."

"Watch out Narako. Kuroshi's sword will just slice that kunai in half."

"Yeah, I know. Kuroshi's sword is a real pain in the ass. I'm guessing its forger somehow imbued the sword with chakra. Whatever it is, it would be in our best interest to destroy the sword."

"Right."

Narako charged at Kuroshi and began performing hand signs. "Ninja Art: Lightning Windstorm!" Narako did a palm thrust at Kuroshi's direction with his left hand. Kuroshi was pelted by electrified air currents.

"Argh! This is nothing!" Kuroshi yelled. Suddenly, the air currents stopped. Kuroshi began to form hand signs, but all of a sudden, the air around Kuroshi began to swirl around him an began cutting his body. "What the hell?" Kuroshi swung both his arms, and dark energy erupted from Kuroshi dissipating the wind currents. "Damn, a two-step attack."

"Let me tell you something Kuroshi," Narako began. "One of my specialties is two-step attacks."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Now take this!" Narako pulled out 4 shuriken from his shuriken holster and threw them at Kuroshi. He then formed a hand sign. "Ninja Art: Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" The 4 shuriken Narako threw then multiplied into hundreds.

"I really don't need to use chakra for this, soooo..." Kuroshi then began to block all of the shuriken with his sword.

"Vacuum Fang over Fang!" Just as Kuroshi finished blocking all of the shuriken, he turned around to see Surasshu spinning at a far faster speed than when he used fang over fang. It looked like the air around him was bending. Kuroshi tried to evade the attack by jumping into the air, but Surasshu seemed to fizzle like a summer mirage and he seemed to split in two. One heading towards the ground and fading as if an illusion, and the other charged at Kuroshi now trapped in midair.

"Like I said," Narako boasted, "I specialize in two-step attacks."

"Shit! That will kill me!" Kuroshi stuck his sword out pointing towards Surasshu.

It seemed to pierce Surasshu, but once more his speed and cutting power created a mirage and the real Surasshu went below Kuroshi's sword and attacked Kuroshi's stomach. Kuroshi formed a hand sign. "It's too late for jutsu!" Surasshu yelled. Kuroshi was dealt a direct hit, but instead of being completely pierced, Kuorhsi was just sent flying. Kuroshi's stomach area had a major wound. It was bleeding severely. Surasshu stopped spinning and landed on the ground panting.

But just as Kuroshi landed on the ground, Kurainami appeared spinning towards Kuroshi in a similar matter to Surasshu. "God damnit!" Kuroshi blocked the attack the with the flat side of his sword. Kurainami was slower than Surasshu, thus its attacks didn't create mirages. Kurainami tried with all its might to smash through Kuroshi's sword, but the sword seemed to be extremely sturdy. Finally, Kurainami was repelled back and stopped spinning and landed next to Surasshu. Without warning, countless cracks began to appear on Kuroshi's blade, and in an instant it completely shattered. Kuroshi seemed to simply stare at his now broken blade without emotion.

"""YES!""" Narako, Surasshu, and Ryuu all exclaimed. Apparently, Ryuu was now slumped against one of trees with too little chakra to do much. Surasshu then collapsed to his knees. He was panting heavily.

"Surasshu," Narako began. "Take a rest. You have next to no chakra along with Ryuu. In his state, I can beat Kuroshi single-handed."

Kuroshi on the other hand untied the sash tied around his waist which held up his sword sheath, and he pulled off his cloak and tied his over his wound to stop the bleeding. Underneath his cloak, Kuroshi wore a plain dark gray shirt except for on the back there was a large black crow-like design. Kuroshi's pants were also plain, but they were black. Kuroshi then retied his sash around his waist along with his sword sheath.

Narako looked at Kuroshi. He then prepared to fight once more. "Kuroshi. Give up. Your sword is broken, and you received a serious wound. You can't beat me now."

"Oh really?" In an instant, Kuroshi's sword began to regenerate. "This sword, Mayonaka (Midnight), cannot be destroyed. When it breaks, it regenerates. Not only that, this sword is imbued with chakra. Ordinary kunai and shuriken will be broken by this sword. Other than those 2 advantages, it's just an ordinary sword." Kuroshi then sheathed his sword. Kuroshi then began to spread out his feet and pivoted his body making his side facing Narako. Kuroshi's right hand holding the sheath and his left hand gripping the handle of his sword.

"That is," Narako started, "A battojutsu stance!"

"Come Narako. If you won't join me, then I'll kill you. Fortunately for me, after I finish you, Surasshu and Ryuu will be easy pickings."

"I won't lose!" Narako performed a bunch of hand signs. and then charged at Kuroshi.

"Hmph, idiot." Kuroshi then spread his feet apart even farther and he prepared to draw his sword.

"Time to end this Kuroshi! Ninja Art: Thunder Cyclone Fist!" Chakra formed in Narako's clenched right fist.

"You're an idiot, charging at me like that. Time to slice you in half! Dark Style Battojutsu: Hell Blade!" Kuroshi drew Mayonaka and sliced Narako in half. However, 'Narako', fizzled and to Kuroshi's right-hand side, the real Narako appeared. In his right hand, there was an aqua-colored sphere of energy. "What the heck? A mirage?"

'No,' Surasshu thought to himself. 'That's not a mirage created by speed and cutting power, that's some sort of hologram Narako projected with some sort of jutsu. But what the hell is that jutsu Narako is using?'

"Due to the nature of battojutsu, if it misses, it leaves you wide open for a moment! Eat this Kuroshi! This is my secret technique, Shizengyu (Nature Sphere)!" Narako prepared to hit Kuroshi in the face with the energy sphere in his hand. "How many times do I have to tell you? I specialize in two-step attacks! Die!"

"You're right. Two-Step attacks ARE useful..."

CRACK!

Kuroshi used his sheath to slam into the back of Narako's elbow just as Kuroshi was about to be hit by the Shizengyu. The force snapped narako's elbow and part of his bow was sticking out of his skin. Kuroshi's vicious attack caused Narako's jutsu to dissipate. he screamed in agony. "Now that my defenseless moment is over, I'm going to end this for real Narako!" Kuroshi then prepared to stab Narako with his sword. Narako, realizing what was about to happen, tried to get away from Kuroshi, but it was too late...

Narako avoided getting stabbed in the heart, but his lungs was still pierced. Narako's breathing was extremely raspy and harsh. "Looks like you managed to avoid a fatal blow, ehh Narako? Didn't help much though." Kuroshi pulled out his sword from Narako's body. "If you don't get medical attention, you'll die anyways." Abruptly, Kuroshi felt the effects from his wound dealt by Surasshu and he too collapsed.

Ryuu and Surasshu were horrified by Narako's fate. "Y-Y-You bastard," Ryuu muttered. Surasshu looked over at Ryuu, wondering what was about to happen. "Hyuuuu...AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Black flames preceded to cover Ryuu from head to toe, yet they did not burn his body at all. "Kuroshi! You're gonna pay for this!"

Kuroshi had a look of shock at Ryuu. "This is bad. With my wounds, I'll actually lose." Kuroshi performed some hand signs and slammed his hand on the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!" 2 phoenixes which were a lot larger than Kuroshi appeared. They had the exact same appearance as the phoenixes Kuroshi summoned before except they were larger and they had black-beaded necklaces. One of the phoenixes had red flames. "Fushika, go find Kawa and Senko and tell them we're going to retreat." The red flamed phoenix nodded and flew off. "Fushirai, you're to help me battle this kid." The remaining phoenix nodded. Kuroshi hopped on its back.

Ryuu simply glared at Kuroshi as he shifted into a battle stance.


	16. Dragon's Wrath

**Chapter 16: Dragon's Wrath**

Kuroshi's phoenix, Fushirai ascended into the air with Kuroshi on its back. "Fushirai, my chakra is running low, use your own attacks to attack that kid." Fushirai simply nodded its head in response.  
><em>'How the hell does that kid suddenly have so much energy?'<em> Kuroshi thought. _'He looked extremely worn out! I can't believe this. Looks like I'm going to have to use the kekkei genkai I inherited from my mother...'_ Kuroshi then pulled his hand over his eyes. When he uncovered his eyes, they now had a thick grey ring within the irises, 4 black, jagged, lightning bolt-like lines extending from the irises to the edge of sclera, and finally, there was a tomoe symbol between each of the jagged lines, equaling a total of 4 tomoe.

Ryuu saw Kuroshi's eyes change. "What kind dojutsu is that? Well whatever it is, I won't get anywhere unless I attacked him." Ryuu begant o form hand signs.

With his dojutsu, Kuroshi was able to see Ryuu's flow of chakra. "What the hell? Chakra is pouring from all over his body!" Kuroshi exclaimed. Then when Ryuu started forming hand signs, Kuroshi was able to assess the approximate power of the jutsu Ryuu was about to use and the element of the jutsu. "Fushirai, use a giant phoenix fireball and rise higher into the sky!"

"Don't try to escape me by flying into the air Kuroshi! Dragon Style: Dragon Flare Bullet!" Ryuu shot from his mouth a humongous fireball which headed towards Kuroshi at astonishing speed.

Kuroshi's phoenix beak filled with flames, and it shot an equally large blue fireball from its beak.

Both fires collided and resulted in a fiery explosion. "Guess I'm going to have to use a more powerful Dragon Flare Bullet." Ryuu then once more started performing hand signs.

With his dojutsu, Kuroshi was able to estimate the strengths of Ryuu's next attack. "Shit! This is going to be more powerful! Guess we'll use collaboration ninjutsu." Kuroshi did a few hand signs.

Meanwhile, Ryuu finished his hand signs, and once more brought his hand to his mouth. "Dragon Style: Hyper Dragon Flare Bullet!" Ryuu shot a giant fireball from his mouth, which was much larger than the previous fireball. Ryuu than instantly formed hand signs again, and shot another fireball.

"Fire Style: Blast Oil!" Kuroshi shot from his mouth a lot of oil. Fushirai then flapped its wings, raining down an inferno of blue fire. The moment it enveloped the oil, the flames exploded which decimated Ryuu's first fireball. The second fireball continued its path towards Kuroshi and his phoenix. Fushirai fired a fireball from its beak, reducing Ryuu's attack drastically in size, resulting in a fireball smaller than the regular Dragon Flare Bullet. Just as the fireball was about to sear through Kuroshi and Fushirai, Fushirai opened beak and swallowed the fireball.

"Ehh?"

"Heh, you idiot. Fire doesn't work so well against a phoenix does it? The fireballs you fired earlier were too large or Fushirai here to swallow, but when they are reduced in size, they are swallowed with ease."  
><em>'Hmm,'<em> Kuroshi thought.  
><em>'His energy is reducing fast. Seems this ability of Ryuu's doesn't last too long.'<em>

Meanwhile on the battlefield, Surasshu had retrieved Narako, and Surasshu had began to give Narako some treatment to keep him alive. Surasshu then reached into his bag, and pulled out some healing clay. "Good thing I packed some of it with me..." He put some over where Narako was stabbed. "Fortunately, receiving a wound in the lungs isn't fatal if treated quickly enough."

Suddenly, Narako's eyes shot open. He then spoke in a hoarse tone. "What happened? What's this strong chakra I feel?" Narako was still breathing harshly.

"Try not to talk too much. Get some rest. It's that Ryuu kid."

Narako face illuminated in shock. He then looked over to where Ryuu was. "That is... That is... That is Dragon's Wrath." Suddenly Narako lurched, and he felt terrible pain in his lungs and he coughed up blood.

"Ehh? Normally I would ask you to explain what the hell Dragon's Wrath is, but you aren't in condition, so tell me later. Seriously, Narako, get some rest!"

"Yeah... Give me a few minutes and I'll explain.."

Meanwhile, Ryuu was now glaring at Kuroshi above. "Hmph. You think you're so cool you're in the air? Well I can do it too!"

"What the hell?"

Kuroshi then saw Ryuu's flame chakra develop wings. Ryuu then took flight at great speed. "Kuroshi, you're going down! Literally!" He then began to form signs as he rose in the air towards Kuroshi.

Kuroshi then began rapidly forming signs. "This is really bad! Fushirai, we're going to use _that_ technique!" The phoenix just nodded in response again. "Dark Style: Cursed Fireball!" Kuroshi shot a large blue fireball from his mouth. Fushirai also fired a Cursed Fireball of its own at Kuroshi's fireball, increasing the fireball's size to many times its normal size.

"Hmph. Dragon Style: Ancient Dragon!" For some reason, instead of a white dragon-like entity like when Ryuu battled Zangei, a much larger rainbow dragon entity was formed behind Ryuu. It charged at Kuroshi's and Fushirai's attack. An explosion followed. "Huh?" Ryuu began to pant heavily. "Damn. My energy is running out." Ryuu preceded to descend back to the ground.

"Don't let your guard down kid! Dark Style: Cursed Fireball!" Once again, with Fushirai's help, a colossal blue fireball was formed and was heading towards the ground.

"Oh shit!" Ryuu began to condense all of his remaining energy into his hands. He then attempted to block the fireball with his hands. "ugh! Damnit! If I fail, we'll all be killed!"

Kurroshi simply looked down. He then collapsed and was gasping for breath. "Sheesh. That was much tougher than I expected. I guess I should work on increasing my stamina... Let's go Fushirai." Kuroshi while on the back of Fushirai flew away towards an unknown location.

"Damnit! I WON'T LOSE TO THIS STUPID FIREBALL! HYYYYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! Ryuu exerted as much of his energy as possible, finally destroying the fireball. he then instantly collapsed.

Surasshu's dog, Kurainami swiftly trotted over to Ryuu's body and dragged him over to Surasshu by the shirt with its mouth.

"He's not dead Surasshu," Narako said. "The Dragon's Wrath is a fearsome ability which only a few members of Ryuu's clan achieve. It's said to appear once every 100 years. Even a child whose parents were weak can be the lucky child who is gifted with this power. Usually, it can only be used when the user is put into an extreme emotional state, but there are ways to teach someone how to use it without the emotional state. Dragon's Wrath exponentially increases all of the user's abilities and jutsu strength, although due to Kuroshi's phoenix, Ryuu didn't show his increase in physical strength and speed nearly as much. This increase in power comes with the serious drawback of lasting a very short time and leaving the user extremely worn out. If the user isn't careful, they could also kill themselves with this ability."

"So how do you know all of this?"

"You won't believe how much someone who wonders the world like me can find out. There are many ancient records hidden in places that describe such phenomenons."

"2 more questions. How come Ryuu was still able to use Dragon's Wrath even though most of his chakra was already used up? And what do you mean it's possible for someone to use it at will?"

"Those with Dragon's Wrath have a hidden chakra reserve, which is only released when Dragon's Wrath is used. And as I said, Ryuu could be trained on how to use it at will, but I'll need to research on how. I began studying Dragon's Wrath this week. I did read that the effect is much weaker than the emotionally activated Dragon's Wrath, but it still increases his abilities by a little bit, and it will allow Ryuu to use his hidden chakra reserve to his full extent. Of course, since it's weaker than one activated by emotions, the chakra drain is less in proportion, so Ryuu could sustain it longer." As Narako finished talking, he once more coughed up blood. "Ugh. let's go Surasshu. You carry Ryuu."

"Alright. I'll have Kurainami here track the rest of my group."


	17. Fading Darkness

**Chapter 17: Fading Darkness**

***Kurai vs Senko***

Kurai was leaning against against a rock and he was grimacing in pain. His legs and his right arm had been broken by Senko.

Senko pulled out one of his swords wedged in the ground, and he approached Kurai. "Heh, can't do much with one arm can you?"

Kurai glared at Senko in response.

"Giving me the cold shoulder? Not that it really matters. Not when I'm going to kill you." Senko, now an arm's length of distance away, raised his sword.

"Don't let your guard down idiot!" Kurai attempted at punching Senko with his left fist. The attack made perfect contact, causing Senko to cough up blood.

"You really thought that would stop me Kurai?" Senko then kicked Kurai's arm with heavy force, breaking it.

Kurai simply grit his teeth in anger.

"Now, it's time I end this." Senko once more raised his sword.

"Plant Style: Root Stitching!"

""What the hell?"" Senko and Kurai both exclaimed.

Suddenly small needle-like roots grew out of the earth surrounding Senko, and each tried piercing Senko. Senko charged lightning chakra into his sword, and spun around slicing all the roots apart. When Senko looked aroun for the attacker, he saw Kusaaijin jumping at him with a kunai. Senko merely smirked. "A simple and foolish attack." Senko ducked to avoid the kunai, and he cut through Kusaaijin with his sword, only for 'Kusaaijin' to fizzle and disappear.

Kusaaijin reappeared directly behind Senko. "Plant Style: Pea Pod Sealing!"

A pair of pea pods emerged from the earth and closed Senko inside. "Hmm... Interesting..." Senko formed a hand sign. "Release!" The pea pods were in fact, part of a genjutsu, which Senko dispelled with little effort. Just as the pea pods faded, Senko was surrounded by a field of flowers, but those faded the moment they appeared. Senko was now face to face with Kusaaijin. "Multi-layer genjutsu may work on a moron like Zangei, but against me it's just child's play."

Kusaaijin was shocked that Senko dispelled her double genjutsu so easily.

"oh come on? You're not really THAT surprised are you?" Senko then teleported behind Kusaaijin.

"Huh?"

Senko grabbed Kusaaijin by the back of her neck and threw her to the side. "Hmph, not even worth the effort." He once more walked back over to Kurai. "And it's about time I kill you Kurai."

Kurai's and Senko's eyes met. "It's too bad you won't win Senko! Fuutengan!" In an instant, Kurai's eyes changed from their normal green color to a yellow color, with purple lines extending from the pupil to the edge of the cornea.

"Shit!" Senko quickly shut his eyes and leapt away. When he opened his eyes, he was careful not to make eye contact with Kurai. "Damn, that was close."

***Yoshi & Akina vs Kawa***

Yoshi and Akina have been trapped in the water filled bubbles for about 4 minutes. Akina was now unconscious, and Yoshi was staring at the wound he had inflicted against Kawa before getting trapped.

Kawa did not seem to notice this. "Heh heh heh heh. You 2 are pretty much dead."

Suddenly, Yoshi's shuriken holster opened up while Yoshi was sealed in the bubble prison. Purple liquid was pouring out. "Crap!" Yoshi gurgled.

Kawa also noticed this, and suddenly looked at where he was recently stabbed, only to find some purple liquid oozing out. Without warning, Kawa collapsed and vomited. This resulted in the bubble prisons Yoshi and Akina were stuck in to dissipate, resulting in Yoshi just barely breathing in his own poison, and Yoshi and Akina barely avoiding death.

Yoshi gasped for breath. He then began to form hand signs and outstrechted his hands towards Kawa again. "Wind Style: Pressure Damage!" a ball of wind generated in Yoshi's hands, and exploded once more into a mass of wind.

Kawa tried to create a shield to defend himself, but the poison screwed up his chakra control, resulting in a very pitiful water shield, which was blasted apart, sending Kawa hurtling away. When the dust cleared, Kawa's shirt had been ripped apart, and there were some cuts in his pants. Kawa body was cut and bruised. He formed a hand sign, and managed to form a bubble. He placed the bubble over his chest, and the bubble then sunk into Kawa's bubble, disappearing from sight. To Yoshi's shock, when Kawa removed the bubble, it was full of the poison Yoshi infected Kawa with. With the poison removed, Kawa once more prepared for battle. "Fuck you. I'm gonna kill you if it's the last thing I do."

Yoshi was now extremely worried, for he used the rest of his chakra to use Pressure Damage. However, A black, red flame coated phoenix appeared in the sky without warning. The phoenix created flames in the air which formed a message. Kawa's look towards Yoshi seemed to revert from his murderous intent to his more calmer look. He jumped quite a distance away from Yoshi and looked up at the message:

_'Our only goal here was to try to convince Narako to join us. However he does not wish to do so, so I left him mortally wounded. Whether your opponent's are dead or not, I don't care now. Just come to our current hideout IMMEDIATELY.'_

Yoshi was shocked yet relieved by the message.

Senko, Kurai, and Kusaaijin also saw the message. "Haha, guess you guys are extremely lucky today. Maybe you people should consider joining Kuroshi as thanks, since he accidentally saved your lives, ha ha!" Senko taunted. He then teleported to where Kawa was standing. "Time to go then." Senko then flipped off Kurai and he teleported away with Kawa.

***Kuroshi's Hideout***

"Sheesh. How many times are we gonna let those guys live? First Kawa insists on not killing Kurai and the 'mutt' (a.k.a. Surasshu), and now you accidentally save their lives Kuroshi." Senko was clearly highly aggravated.

Kuroshi was simply sitting in the shadows of the hideout on the back of what seemed to be an enormous phoenix. "Calm down Senko. We're much stronger than them anyways. What's most important is to go and gather some more powerful rogue ninjas for our group."

"Stronger than them, my ass! They managed to bring down Zangei, not that I care too much by the way, but we still lost a member."

"Luckily for us, the rogue ninjas on our list are all stronger than Zangei. And if you and Kawa don't train more, they could be even stronger than you 2."

"That sounds interesting. However they could be like Narako and not want to join."

"That's where you're wrong Senko. Unlike Narako, their backgrounds are still recorded. I researched their history, and the circumstances behind them leaving their villages. For all but 1 of the 5 I have chosen, I can guarantee they will join."

"Who are they?"

"Renge Shinku from the Mist Village-" Upon mentioning the Mist Village, Kawa began shaking. "-Akuma Shiitake from the Stone Village, Shiruku Yasakani from the Sand Village, Yume Kurama from the Leaf Village, and Shuuga Dango from the Grass Village. Shuuga is the one I can't guarantee."

"Hmm... Do you know of their whereabouts Kuroshi?"

"I know their approximate locations. That's about it."

Finally, Kawa spoke. "Then we better get going."

"Yes..." Kuroshi said. "We better get going... Once our group is formed, we'll finally begin taking over the 5 great nations. Let's start by heading to the Land of Lava (a fan-made area that is somewhere near the Land of Earth. It really has no relevance to the this story's plot, so don't worry about it too much)." From then on, Kuroshi, along with Kawa and Senko, disappeared from the rest of the world to find the listed rogue ninjas...


	18. Calm Before the Storm

**Chapter 18: Calm Before the Storm**

***Forest Trail***

Narako, Surasshu, and his dog, Kurainami were walking down the forest trail. Surasshu was carrying the unconscious Ryuu on his back. "By the way Narako, I've been meaning to ask you. What happened to the dog that was supposed to be your companion?"

"Oh, Shiro? Not long after I spread my scent around, I sent Shiro home by reverse summoning him back to where the rest of his pack reside."

"You have a whole pack of dogs?"

"Yeah. They're not really mine though. We're just friends and I'm able to summon them." Narako then added briskly, "How we met is a long story that I don't feel like sharing, so don't ask me."

Surasshu simply stared at Narako. -_-

"ugh..." Ryuu had awoken.

"Finally awake Ryuu? I hope you could walk on your own, because I'm tired of carrying you on my back. You're **heavy**."

"Yeah yeah. I can walk on my own now... I think..."

Ryuu slid off Surasshu's back, but when his feet hit the ground, he was very wobbly. Surasshu wasn't pleased by this. "Ugh, guess you still can't really walk Ryuu..."

"Shut up! I can walk on my own 2 feet, k' thanks!" At that moment, Ryuu stumbled and hit the dirt face first. "Ack! Goff dirth in my mouf!"

***The others***

Meanwhile, Kurai was still slumped against the rock. "Damn. It's a little hard to do anything when both your arms and legs are broken." His eyes had returned to their normal color.

Kusaaijin gave him a questioning stare.

"What are you staring at me for?"

"Nothing," Kusaaijin lied. She wanted to know what the heck Kurai's dojutsu was, which frightened even Senko.

"Kusaaijin, since my arms are kinda useless, pull out some healin clay from my bag for me."

"Umm, okay." She dug her hand into Kurai's bag and pulled out some of the healing clay. "Now what?"

"Normally I don't do this, sice even though it's a much faster way of healing, it could shorten my life span, but if I don't I'll be stuck in a useless state for a while."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm gonna eat that clay..."

Kusaaijin was shocked at this response, but she poured the clay into Kurai's mouth anyways. "How come this shortens your life span?"

"Because it rapidly agitates the healing cells in the body to constantly grow and divide about 10000 times faster rate than normal. When you just bathe in it like Surasshu and I did earlier, your healing rate is only 10 times faster. Now don't get me wrong. This clay is no miracle cure. It won't ever fully heal serious internal damage, like attacks on your vital organs like the lungs, heart, liver, etc. As long the attack wasn't a truly fatal attack, it could be healed somewhat, but you will still be left far weaker." Suddenly, Kurai was able to stand up.

Then from a distance, Yoshi called over Kusaaijin. "Hey! Akina's awake now!"

Kurai then started stomping around, occasional messing up the land even more than it already was, or just smashing some random boulders part of the debris. "Senko, that asshole! I'm gonna snap that bastard's neck first chance I get. Flipping me off like that! He won't be smiling the next time we fight, that's for sure!"

Yoshi was watching Kurai's actions. "You know, aren't Jonins supposed to keep their emotions in check?"

Kusaajin, who was now sitting with the now awakened Akina, thought Kurai's actions were rather humorous. "I hope he doesn't stop soon." She then gave a small laugh.

Suddenly, Kurai's mole, Ichimogura jumped out of the ground and kicked Kurai in the face. "What the hell Kurai? First you buy walnuts, even though I clearly said I wanted PEANUTS, and now you start smashing the earth like you own it!"

"Okay, okay Ichimogura. I'm sorry. Happy now?"

"What kind of apology is that?"

"Fine, is THIS better?" Kurai pulled out a bag of peanuts from his pocket, and meant to give it to Ichimogura, only for both of them to discover to their horror that it was drenched in Kurai's blood. Apparently Kurai's blookd leaked into the bag.

"What the hell? Why do YOU have the peanuts, and you left the walnuts in the cupboard? Now only that, they're no good, due tot he fact they're drenched in your blood now!"

"You know full well I prefer the walnuts over the peanuts Ichimogura. I apparently made a mistake and I accidentally put the walnuts in the shelf as opposed to the peanuts. So if you'll calm down, I buy you a big bag of peanuts first chance I get."

"Fine. I'm going home then. I expect that bag within 3 days." Ichimogura then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kurai then approached Yoshi, Akina, and Kusaaijin. "Alright. As you 3 know, we need to get stronger. Otherwise, when Kuroshi comes back, we'll be slaughtered. In fact, if Kuroshi didn't send out that message, we would have died." Kurai then paused. The next moment, Kurai's attention was completely changed to where the forest was. He saw Surasshu, Narako, Ryuu, and Kurainami.

"Good news!" Surasshu shouted. "Narako is going to help us fight Kuroshi!"

***Soon***

After Kurai finished recalling about the recent events with Surasshu, narako, and Ryuu, there just dead silence among them.

"What really bothers me are what Kuroshi's true motives are," Surasshu commented.

"Yeah, I wonder about that too." Kurai replied. He then caught Yoshi's, Akina's, and Kusaaijin's eyes and gestured them to come.

"I think we should research the backgrounds of Kuroshi and his group members, Kawa and Senko. Perhaps the circumstances behind those 3 going rogue may provide clues on their true motives," Narako suggested.

"Well there's some problems with that idea," Kurai said. "Kuroshi does not seem to have a village of origin for some reason, so there's very little records on what happened before he began to show up taking on assassination jobs for the black market. However, one of the people he worked for was secretly a spy for the Stone Village, but Kuroshi killed him before the spy could send my village useful information. Not long after that, many of those who are part of the black market turned up dead, and Kuroshi disappeared for a short time." And now he comes out of hiding with Kawa, Senko, and Zangei, who was killed by here Kusaaijin."

"Kuroshi's known history seems to make it seem like Kuroshi's motives involve bounty hunting, but that seems too small of a goal for someone of Kuroshi's caliber," Narako commented.

"True," Surasshu added. "As Kurai also said, there's also problems in trying to use Kawa's and Senko's history to figure Kuroshi's ultimate goal. For some reason, the Mist Village has refused to release information of Kawa beyond basic stuff such as age and rank. Then in the case of Senko, the Cloud Village gave out information just fine, but not even they know why Senko left. He was the former Raikage, but for some reason, he went rogue. Based on some of Senko's reported actions before leaving, I'd say Senko left out of lust for power."

"Well all you guys could do is report this info to your respective villages," said Narako. "Also, Ryuu, I have a very good idea that will help us battle Kuroshi."

"Huh?"

"Ryuu. Do you want me to train you?"

"You. Train. Me?"

"Yes or no?"

"Yes sir I do!"

"Great. I will teach you how to use your Dragon's Wrath ability at will."

"You could do that?"

"Yes. It may take a while though. I'll need some time to fully recover from my injuries. After that, I'll start training you. In the meantime, just go home and relax. I will send you a message somehow once I'm fully healed." Narako then faced Yoshi, Akina, and Kusaaijin. "You 3 could also come train with Ryuu if you wish." Narako preceded to spoke individually to Kusaaijin. "You may want to stay with Ryuu. That way it'll be easier for me to contact you also. And..." Narako spoke in a much quieter voice so that only Kusaaijin could hear him. "...You may get the opportunity to find what you lost long ago."

Kusaaijin was confused by the meaning of those words.

Narako gave a slight smile. "See ya!" Narako performed some hand signs. He then disappeared in a burst of smoke.

"So where to?" Yoshi asked.

"We'll return to our villages," Surasshu answered. "But first, Kurai and I will sign a letter for you Yoshi, to give to the Kazekage, and we will sign a letter for Kusaaijin to give to the leader of the Grass Village. We'll rest up tonight, and go our separate ways tomorrow morning."

Ryuu spoke to Kussaijin. "So, uhh... do you want to come with me to my house at the Sand Village?" Ryuu felt extremely embarrassed asking this question.

Kusaaijin's face once more turned a deep shade of pink. "Uhh... S-s-s-sur-uh..." She couldn't find the courage to say 'sure' like she wanted.

"Notice how her personality completely changes whenever she talks to Ryuu?" Yoshi mumbled to Akina.

Kusaaijin finally manage to get herself to speak to Ryuu again. "S-sure, I'd l-l-l-love too..."

There was an awkward silence between the 2. It was broken when Akina suddenly slapped Ryuu very hard in the back of the head. "OWW! What was that for?"

"Get over here!" Akina grabbed Ryuu by the back of the neck and dragged him over out of earshot. "Listen here idiot. Ask her on a d-d-date, STUPID!"

"A d-d-date? You want me to ask her out on a date? Are you kidding me?"

"Honestly Ryuu, don't bother trying to hide it. I can tell you like her, and she likes you, so do it. I'm 100% sure she'll say 'yes'!"

"I don't like her in _that_ way. I only asked her to come to my house before Narako said she should. You know what happens when I bring girls over to my house don't you? Remember what happened with my perverted younger brother when you came? The house was practically destroyed, by YOU because of your reaction to him!"

And so Ryuu and Akina continued their bickering for the next half an hour...


	19. Ryuu's House

**Chapter 19: Ryuu's House**

Ryuu, Yoshi, Akina, Kurai, Surasshu (and his dog Kurainami), and Kusaaijin were all standing at a four-forked crossroad. One Path was where they had just come from, another lead to the Sand, another led to the Stone, and the last path lead to the Leaf.

Yoshi spoke. "I guess this is where we part ways then?"

"Guess so. Fortunately our villages are allies with each other, so we'll likely meet up again," Surasshu said.

"Hah. It'd be a huge problem if any of us were Cloud or Mist Ninja, considering what's going on in those 2 villages," Kurai remarked. "Our respective villages have been having a lot of conflicts with Cloud and Mist lately."

And so Kurai went down the path to the Stone Village, Surasshu and Kurainami headed towards the Leaf Village, while the others went down the path to the Sand Village.

***Road to the Sand Village***

"Aww damn it, a sandstorm is approaching. My favorite!" Ryuu complained.

The foursome had no choice but to flee inside a cave or risk getting lost in the storm. "Well it's not like we're in any hurry, so we don't need to use ninjutsu just to bypass the sandstorm," Akina said. "By the way Kusaaijin, why don't you send that letter to your village via one of the Sand Village's messenger birds?"

"Alright, I'll do that."

The sandstorm lasted until late evening.

Yoshi observed the sunset. "Hmm... If we move fast enough, we may make it to the village before the sun completely sets, but otherwise we'll be arrive at night time."

Ryuu began stretching his arms out. "I say we head home now. I'd like to be back in my own house. Not so excited about my younger brother though..." Ryuu then directed his speech towards Kusaaijin. "Just so you know-" Kusaaijin suddenly jumped in alarm. "-my younger brother is slightly perverted... Just ask Akina about it... In fact, I think you should stay at Akina's house."

"Umm... That's okay. I-I think I'll s-s-stay with y-you."

Ryuu sighed. "Well, suit yourself I guess then. I just hope my house doesn't get destroyed later."

Akina remembered the first time she visited Ryuu's house. It was just after the 3 of them became chunin. Although Ryuu was slightly exaggerating on his brother being perverted, but there was no denying the fact that he was extremely rude.

***Later***

The sun had set, and the foursome had finally arrive in the sand village. They all waved goodbye to each other as they all went to their own houses (except for Kusaaijin, who went with Ryuu to his house). "I'm home!" Ryuu called out when he opened the door to his house.

Directly in front of the door, there was a fairly long hallway, where there were an opening on each side of the hallway, and a door on each side. The opening on the left side led to the kitchen, while the door farther away led to the bathroom. On the right side, the door was closer and it led to Ryuu's bedroom, while the opening led to a stairway. There were many fancy mats adorned with dragons of various design that lay on the floor, and in places the mats did not cover, one could see that the floor was made out of bamboo.

A younger boy who wore a blue t-shirt with the yin-yang symbol on the back and a small dragon icon on the front ran down the staircase. He wore regular black shorts, and his physical appearance looked almost exactly like Ryuu except his hair was brown and both his eyes were green. He then ran towards Ryuu. Just as he was within Ryuu's reach, Ryuu quickly grabbed the boy by the scruff of the neck.

"You better listen well Tsura! Don't try anything funny, you hear me?"

The boy named Tsura smirked at Ryuu. He then looked over towards Kusaaijin. "Sheesh, another flat-chested ugly girl? Your taste in girls are terrible."

A nerve pulsed in Kusaaijin's temple, as she was suddenly extremely infuriated. Before she could act however, Ryuu gave Tsura a punch to the head.

"God Damn it Tsura! I told you don't try anything funny-" Suddenly 'Tsura' fell crumpled and fell apart. "Ugh. That's one of the few techniques he has mastered. The Dragon Shed Skin technique. He has much more mastery over it then I do myself."

Kusaaijin seemed not to have heard him. Her face was very red, and her fists were clenched as she shook in fury.

Ryuu gulped. "O-o-okay, calm down Kusaaijin... I'll handle this idiot myself..."

When Ryuu looked up, he saw Tsura hanging on from the ceiling, having apparently learned to channel chakra into his feet and walk on objects such as trees and walls. He then pulled down the skin under his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Ryuu and Kusaaijin. "Nyeh! Nyeh! You can't catch me!"

"You brat!" Kusaaijin formed a hand sign. "Plant Style: Binding Root!" A root burst from the ground and wrapped around Tsura and began to strangle the boy. The root pulled down Tsura into Kusaaijin's reach and she then preceded to brutally beat the boy up, only to find him once more crumple up.

"Stop Kusaaijin! Don't use ninjutsu like that! You'll destroy the house!"

Tsura then walked out from the opening that led to the kitchen. He once again stuck his tongue out at Ryuu at Kusaaijin.

Kusaaijin, blind with rage, once more formed hand signs. "Plant Style: Grass Weaving!" A punch of grass blades grew out from the floor, and began to start piercing Tsura and binding him up as each of the grass blades tied together, ending with Tsura being trapped in a bloody knot. he then crumpled up again.

Tsura popped up behind Ryuu and Kusaaijin, and he grabbed the back of Kusaaijin's shorts.

Ryuu, knowing exactly how his brother acted with Akina, quickly pushed Kusaaijin in front of him, foiling Tsura's action. Ryuu then formed some hand signs himself. "Time to end this game of of playing 'it'! Dragon Style: Dragon's Claws!" Chakra formed behind Ryuu in the shape of a dragon's claw and grabbed Tsura. This time however, Tsura didn't crumple up.

"Hey! What the heck? Why isn't my Dragon Skin Shed technique working?"

"Lucky for me, I mastered this technique before I left home to go on my mission Tsura. It was specifically made by Dad to stop the Dragon Shed Skin technique and he happened to teach it to me."

Soon, Tsura looked over at Kusaaijin, and just like Ryuu before, he gulped and began to sweat heavily.

Kusaaijin was glaring at him with menace and she cracked her knuckles. "You are sooo DEAD!"

"Oh shi-"

***Later***

Tsura was now bloody and bruised all over and his mother was fixing him up. "Tsk tsk Tsura. I don't even feel sorry for you. You asked for it."

Tsura's father then spoke too. "What do you expect when you piss off your older brother or his friends? Did you get overly cocky after what happened before?" He then leaned over to Ryuu. "It's good thing I taught you that technique. Things could have gotten seriously out of hand if you didn't have it."

Ryuu seemed to be quite proud of himself. "Well if you don't mind Dad, Mom, Kusaaijin and I are going to my room."

***Ryuu's Room***

"See? I told you Kusaaijin. My younger brother is nothing but trouble, especially around girls."

Kusaaijin, having calmed down, returned to her normal timid self she is around Ryuu. "Umm, i-it's okay."

"Aaaannnywaaaays... Since there's an extra mattress in the house, I'll bring that in here. You can take my bed if you like, as the mattress is a little old and not as nice as the bed. The bathroom is over on the other side of the hallway."

"O-o-okay. I umm... am going to go take a shower..."

"Go ahead. Just be sure to add your plants to block the door in addition as Tsura is pretty crafty, and knowing him, he'll find a way to open the door."

"W-why is your brother like that anyways?"

"It's because he's jealous. He only has average abilities as opposed to my status as gifted among the clan."

"O-okay. I'll b-be back later." Kusaaijin gathered an extra pair of clothes from her bag and headed to the restroom.  
><strong><br>*Elsewhere***

A fairly tall man stood in a wasteland area. Behind him was a very rocky, mountainous land. In front of him, the land flattened and looked like a sandy desert. The man was nearly completely covered in bandages except for his red eyes. The parts of his skin that weren't covered were a darker shade of tan, and various strands of green hair poked out from the bandages. He then began to walk down towards he desert.


	20. Past and Present

**Chapter 20: Past and Present**

After breakfast was finished, Ryuu and Kusaaijin headed out towards the door, but before they could leave, Ryu's mother spoke up. "Hey, could you 2 take Tsura with you? He needs to turn in his chunin exam registration."

Ryuu and Kusaaijin weren't pleased with this idea. "Yeah, sure. I don't care," Ryuu answered.

Tsura gave a rather devious sneer. So he tagged along with Ryuu and Kusaaijin when they left.

"Now you better not try anything funny Tsura! Or else!" Ryuu threatened, as the trio walked down the streets of the Sand Village.

"Of course I won't do anything big brother," Tsura replied sarcastically as he picked up a small stone. "Hmm..." When Ryuu wasn't looking, he slipped the stone into his pocket.

"Anyways Kusaaijin, first we'll stop by the flower shop, and then, since the cemetery is closer than the academy, we'll stop by there, and then drop Tsura off at the academy where they're collecting chunin exam registrations."

"Cemetery?" Tsura and Kusaaijin both exclaimed in shock.

"Yeah, we're meeting up with Yoshi and Akina there."

***Cemetery***

Yoshi laid down a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone.

***Yoshi's Flashback***

A trio of shinobi were sprinting down a road in the Sand Village. They all wore the typical Sand Village brown flak-jacket and wore their village headband. One of them had beige spiky hair and a pair of giant shuriken strapped on his back. Another very dark green hair which framed his face, and he carried a large scroll. The last had short black hair. He also wore a belt tied around his waist, which held up a sword. "Damn it! Shiruku is escaping the village!" one of them cried. A younger Yoshi was secretly following the trio.

Later, the trio had finally caught up with a young boy just outside the village, who appeared to be in his mid-teens. He had short, spiky, silver hair, and he wore a regular dark-gray t-shirt and dark-blue pants. He had his headband on his forehead, but the village's symbol had a slash across it. "I'm through with this village."

"You criminal!" One of the boy's pursuers screamed. "Not only did you kill your own father, but you also attacked the kazekage!"

"Don't judge me, assholes!" The boy pulled out some shuriken and threw them at the 3 ninja.

"You won't get away with this, Shiruku!"

Yoshi was watching this in secret.

"GYAAAHHH!"

"ARGH!"

"KYAAAAAHHHH!"

To Yoshi's horror, the boy named Shiruku had killed all 3 of his pursuers. They had been ripped to pieces. Attached to each of Shiruku's fingers were silk threads which were now drenched in blood.

***End of Flashback***

Thinking of this memory, Yoshi grit his teeth.

"Hi Yoshi." Akina had appeared. She carried 2 bouquets of flowers. She laid them at 2 different tombstones which stood next to each other.

"I'll never forgive him.." Yoshi mumbled.

"Yoshi?"

"Sorry Akina. I just spaced out a bit. By the way, when are Kusaaijin and Ryuu going to be here?"

"Umm, should be pretty soon-"

"Heeeeeeey!" Ryuu called out. He, Kusaaijin, and Tsura each carried a bouquet. They walked up to where Akina and Yoshi were standing. Ryuu laid his bouquet where Yoshi laid flowers. He then grabbed Kusaaijin's and Tsura's flowers and laid them where Akina placed her bouquet. "I should also pay my respects to your father, Yoshi, and Akina's grandparents."

"Hey Ryuu, who're you gonna pick as your girlfriend?" Tsura asked. "Ugly #1, or Ugly #2?"

Everyone instantly attacked Tsura, particularly Akina and Kusaaijin. Before Tsura could escape, Ryuu rapidly caught him with Dragon's Claw. Much to everyone's shock, Tsura fizzled away. He reappeared behind Akina, and hugged her in a possessive manner. Akina pried herself apart, and both she and Kusaaijin whacked Tsura on the head. Ryuu once again quickly caught him with Dragon's Claw again. "Hmph. Guess you got me with genjutsu, but it won't work twice Tsura."

Tsura simply spat at Ryuu's face.

"From now on, I'm holding you in this."

***much later***

Ryuu sighed. "I'm glad we finally dropped off that pain in the rear, Tsura."

He, Yoshi, Akina, and Kusaaijin were all strolling down the streets towards the kazekage's residence. "Now we need to report to the kazekage the results of our mission, alert him of Kusaaijin's residence here, and also alert him of our encounter with Kuroshi and his group," Yoshi said.

"U-umm, a-are you s-s-sure he'll be okay with me staying here?" Kusaaijin had apparently returned her usual nervous self around Ryuu now that Tsura wasn't there to anger her.

"He'll be fine. He's a very kind, yet powerful man," Akina answered.

***Kazekage's Office***

A fairly muscular man sat behind a desk as he face the other four. He wore the typical kazekage robe, and wore his green kage hat. His wavy hair was a sand-like color. Strands of it went over his face. He also had a small stubble. He had a rather neutral look on his face. "I see. So this girl from the grass is going to be staying? That's fine with me. Also, since Narako is not a villain, and is simply a wandering Ninja, I shall leave him be."

"What about Kuroshi and his gang, sir?" Ryuu questioned.

"Kuroshi is extremely dangerous. I will organize a group of some of the greatest Ninja in the village, and have them hunt down Kuroshi's gang." The kazekage reached into some compartment in his desk, and then pulled out some money. He then handed it to Ryuu, Yoshi, and Akina. "Here's your payment, Ryuu, Yoshi, and Akina. As for you, Kusaaijin was it? You can use one of our messenger birds to report to the grass village leader and have her send you payment. You four may go now."

"Yes sir!" They all exclaimed.

***Outside Kaxekage's Office***

"Well Ryuu, we'll be going," Akina said. She and Yoshi exited the building.

"Kusaaijin, you can go and use one of our messenger birds. I'll wait here."

"Umm... O-okay..." She headed down one of the hallways.

***Bathroom* **

Kusaaijin however, went to the bathroom instead and locked one of the stalls. She then somehow began a conversation with someone else in her head.

_"Kusaaijin! What took so long? I've been trying to contact you all day with my telepathy ability!"_

_"I needed to wait until I was in a situation with no one around!"_

_"Hurry up and find a way to ditch these guys. We need to find Kensaki!"_

_"NO! I want to stay with Ryuu! I don't care about Kensaki! Find him yourself!"_

_"How dare you say that to your superior? Maybe __**this**__ will change your mind!"_

Suddenly, Kusaaijin grabbed her head with both her hands. She began to let out a scream of agony, but her voice was muted. When the searing headache finally ended, she collapsed, and was panting heavily.

_"What the hell was that?"_

_"A warning. Not only does implanting my chakra into you allow a telepathic communication between us, it also allows me to give you an intense headache."_

_"I didn't agree for you to be able to do that!"_

_"I didn't want to use it, but since you wish to disobey me and Mistress Kuguya, I was forced to use it. But please, we need your help against Kensaki."_

_"Why do you need ME so badly? What do I have that you don't have to combat Kensaki?"_

_"Listen. We just need you. Got it? You'll understand later."_

_"Alright alright..."_ Kusaaijin began to shed a few tears.__

_"The rendezvous point will be at the northern border of the Land of Wind. Kensaki is very close to that area. Be there by midnight. I'll be waiting."_

And so, Kusaaijin eventually headed back to Ryuu's house with Ryuu. By the time they were at Ryuu's house, it was nightime. But... Just outside...

"Wait Ryuu! B-before we go in..."

"Yes, Kusaaijin?"

"Umm... uh..." Kusaaijin was blushing. Suddenly, she embraced Ryuu under the fullmoon.

But much to Ryuu's astonishment, he felt multiple needles puncture his back. "Kusaaijin? What the he-" Ryuu collasped into a forced sleep due to Kusaaijin's sleep needles.

"I'm so sorry Ryuu..." Tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "I w-wanted to stay with you a little bit longer, but..."

Ryuu seemed to be able to resist Kusaaijin's sleep needles, but not enough to be able to move. He could only faintly hear Kusaaijin's words.

Sparkling tears continued to stream down Kusaaijin's face. "G-g-goodbye Ryuu." Kusaaijin, as silently as she could, opened the door to Ryuu's house, and dragged Ryuu's body in. She then shut it, and left the village.

On her way to the rendezvous point, Kusaaijin collapsed onto her knees in the sand. "I-I... I couldn't say it... I couldn't... I couldn't say my true feelings..." As Kusaaijin continued to cry into the sand, she remembered when she first saw Ryuu. Although Ryuu doesn't remember it, she does...


	21. Forgotten Encounter

**Chapter 21: Forgotten Encounter**

***4 Years Ago***

It was daybreak when a young Kusaaijin had awoken. She instantly began to scream in terror, as she found herself tied up being carried by a Cloud ninja within a group of 3 Cloud ninjas.

"Shut it girl!" Kusaaijin's carrier snapped as he slapped her hard on the face.

Kusaaijin held back her tears, and she continued to struggle and scream. She wore a grass green kimono and a light blue obi (japanese sash), which was now getting very rumpled and it looked close to tearing.

Suddenly, the group of ninjas halted. There was movement within the trees. Without warning, a couple dozen shuriken rained down upon the Cloud ninjas. The Cloud ninjas dodged and countered with shuriken of their own. "Damn! The stupid girl gave away our position!"

"We didn't expect to run into you crooks on our way home. Trying to steal another village's kekkei genkai?" A voice from the trees asked. 4 ninjas who all looked like they were teenagers leaped from the trees to face the cloud ninja. They each wore the Sand village headband. 2 of the ninjas wore the sand village flak jacket and dark blue pants. One of those 2 was a tall, lean boy with long, red hair and a ponytail, along with a sword strapped on his back. He had gray eyes. The other was an average sized teenager with short, straight, blond hair and hazel eyes.

The last 2 had much different clothes. One was wearing brick red t-shirt shirt with a brown vest. His shorts were grey and went over his knees. At the ends were what appeared to be rips. His shuriken holster was on his left hand side instead of the usual right. his hair was brown, short in the front and back, and longer on the sides. He had beige eyes. The last boy had a fire-like shade of red shirt. On the back was a silver dragon. His pants were black, and he seemed to be going bare foot. His hair was also black and short, and his eyes were blue.

The foursome glared at the 3 cloud ninjas in disgust. "Where did you take that girl from?" One of the four questioned.

The cloud ninjas just howled in laughter. "Hmph, they're just a group of kids!" one of them exclaimed.

"You kids better go back home and play with your mommies. We're elite jonin. Do you think you stand a chance?" Another spoke mockingly.

The blond haired Sand ninja formed hand signs. "Earth Style: Stalagmite!" He slammed his palm on the ground. Stalagmites grew from the earth below the Cloud ninjas.

Not paying attention, only 2 of the Cloud ninjas escaped. One of them was stabbed and killed by the stalagmites. "Tatsu! Take the girl and hurry up and get to the Waterfall village. The mission is top priority. I'll take care of the kids."

The Cloud ninja addressed as Tatsu quickly began to flee.

"Oh no you don't!" the boy in the brick-red t-shirt shouted. He suddenly reappeared in front of the fleeing Cloud ninja.

"S-so fast!"

"Get him Hayai!"

The boy named Haiyai slugged Tatsu hard in the stomach, causing him to drop Kusaaijin. Hayai quickly caught Kusaaijin, and seemed to teleport back to where his teammates were standing.

"Alright, let's get out of here guys!" The blond haired boy ordered.

"Wind Style: Mowing Storm!" yelled the unnamed Cloud ninja.

"Oh shit!" cried the black haired boy. A huge gale was created, sending out blades of wind in every direction. Haiyai managed to avoid without injury while carrying Kusaaijin thanks to his great speed, but the blond haired boy was dealt a direct hit across the chest. The Sand ninja with a sword had his left arm amputated and the last Sand ninja somehow only received minor cuts on his arms which were used to shield his body. The intense gusts covered the area in dust.

"Tsurugi, Kori, Ryuu! Are you guys alright?" Haiyai asked.

"Yes! I got away mostly unscathed thanks to my Dragon Guard technique," Ryuu responded.

"My arm got cut off, and Kori is dying!" Tsurugi screamed in a slightly panicky voice.

Haiyai tried to search for his teammates through the dust, but suddenly, Tatsu appeared, and his chakra seemed to be repelling the dust. Haiyai nimbly dodged Tatsu's fist, he threw a kunai with a paper bomb attached. Tatsu dodged, but the explosion dissipated the dust. Haiyai searched for Ryuu, who had just kick the unnamed Cloud ninja through a few trees. Haiyai then threw Kusaaijn to Ryuu. "Ryuu Catch!"

Kusaaijin screamed out. "Can someone please untie me already!"

Ryuu caught Kusaaijin successfully. When he looked at Kusaaijin's face, Kusaaijin began to blush heavily.

But when Ryuu stopped paying attention, the Cloud ninja Ryuu has just kicked gave Ryuu a kick of his own, and he took Kusaaijin. "Keep your eyes on me dumbass!" He then threw Kusaaijin on the ground and formed a set of hand signs. "Fire Style: Incinerating Fireball!" he shot a gigantic fireball from his mouth, not at Ryuu, but actually Haiyai, who was distracted fighting Tatsu!

"Haiyai, look out!"

Haiyai noticed too late and he got obliterated by the fireball.

Tatsu then returned to his original task, and once again grabbed Kusaaijin and fled the battlefield.

Ryuu, furious with the remaining Cloud ninja having killed his teammates Haiyai and Kori, along with severely injuring Tsurugi, Ryuu wanted revenge. "I won't forgive you, you bastard!"

"Ooohhh, I'm so scared," the Cloud ninja mocked.

Black flames began to bubble from Ryuu's body. Then his left eye changed into green. "HAAAA!" His entire body was covered in black flames.

The Cloud ninja's face changed from a sneer into pure terror. He could feel that Ryuu's chakra was extremely powerful.

Tsurugi was also shocked at Ryuu's burst of power. "W-w-what IS this?"

As Tatsu was fleeing from the battlefield, Kusaaijin was able to see this from a distance.

***Present Time***

Kusaaijin stopped reminiscing this moment. She then stood up once more and preceded to the meeting point.


	22. Weakness

**Chapter 22: Weakness**

Splash!

"AGH! WHAT THE HELL?" Ryuu screamed in fury as he awoken with a jump. He was drenched in ice cold water. He found Tsura sneering with malice holding in his hands a small bucket that had traces of water inside. "God damn it Tsura." Tsura sped out of the room. Ryuu's head ached. His recent memory was so murky. He crept out of his bed to the dining room, where he found Tsura and his mother.

"Ryuu!" Ryuu's mother exclaimed. "We were so worried when we found you unconscious just outside the house! Where's Kusaaijin?"

Kusaaijin's name seemed to be the trigger to Ryuu's memory. He instantly remembered the words he could vaguely hear spoken by Kusaaijin before succumbing to her sleep needles. "Shit! What time is it?"

"It's 8:00. We just reported Kusaaijin's disappearance to the kazekage about 15 minutes ago-"

"Damn, I gotta go! Sorry Mom!" Ryuu almost sprinted out the door, but right before he did so, he called, "Good luck on your Chunin Exams, Tsura!"

Just outside his door, Ryuu encountered Akina and Yoshi. "Ryuu? The kazekage just sent us to get you-" Akina began.

"I don't have time! I have to go!" Ryuu interrupted. He then exploded down the streets heading for the village entrance.

"Ryuu! Wait for just a minute!" Yoshi cried as he and Akina followed Ryuu.

"I can't wait. Kusaaijin has somehow been forced against her will to go somewhere! I have to find her!"

"Ryuu! The kazekage says there's no need to worry about Kusaaijin-"

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THERE'S NO NEED TO WORRY? ARE YOU A DUMBASS?" Ryuu bellowed.

Yoshi was about to make a retort, but Akina quickly urged him not to. "It's no use Yoshi. Ryuu likes her." She made a small giggle despite the current situation.

Yoshi's face turned a shade of red. "By the way Akina... I just perfected this new jutsu yesterday-" Akina, in an effort to catch up to Ryuu, missed what Yoshi said as she dashed ahead. Embarrassed, Yoshi stopped paying attention to where he was going and almost ran into a tall man strolling down the street, whom Yoshi narrowly evaded. "Sorry!"

Akina approached Ryuu. "I don't think we'll be able to find Kusaaijin. She's most likely quite far from this village. We'll have to hope on the off chance that there was next to no wind last night for her tracks to be visible.

After his near collision, Yoshi caught up with Ryuu and Akina as they approached the village entrance. "Ryuu! One of these days, your weakness of rushing to save your comrades no matter what the cost is, is going to get you into trouble. It's your biggest fault, besides your stupidity."

"Shut the hell up Yoshi!" Ryuu retorted. "You got worse scores in the intelligence based tests at the academy. Besides, you're always such as try hard, trying to act all cool to impress-" but before he could finish his sentence, Ryuu was slugged hard in the face by Yoshi. Yoshi's face had a wild expression of a mix of anger an embarrassment.

Akina face-palmed and sighed. "Boys..."

***Just outside the village***

"Lucky us," Yoshi said. It appears it was next to windless last night. There's still faintly visible tracks."

The three then followed the trail.

***Elsewhere***

There were 6 ninjas who all stood on a rocky mountainside. 5 of them stood on one side. The desert sands lay behind them.

The man covered in bandages faced a group consisting of 5 ninjas who all wore the grass village headband. Kusaaijin for some reason now wore her grass village headband. She felt an odd sense of familiarity, yet was slightly frightened by the man, identified by her captain as Kensaki. One man among the 4 other grass nin stood out, as he wore a grass-green cape with brown coattails. The cape also had golden flower petals decorated onto his cape. He also wore a grey flak jacket as opposed to the earthly color the other three unnamed ninja wore.

Kensaki scanned each and every one of his opponents. His crimson red eyes seemed to burn right through them. Suddenly, when his eyes fell upon Kusaaijin, his eyes widened in shock.

The man who wore the ornate cape spoke. "Look out! This man wields earth, water, and wind element techniques! Our orders are to capture him alive. Do NOT kill him. I repeat. Capture him **alive!**"

"You're not much of a talker are you, 'Kensaki'?"

Most of the ninja at the scene prepared into a fighting stance. One lone grass ninja seemed to step behind the rest of the others. He too then prepared into a fighting stance.


	23. Weakness Part II

**Chapter 23: Weakness (Part II)**

Ryuu, Yoshi, and Akina were tearing through what seemed to be an endless desert. "Are we there yet?" Ryuu asked.

"GOD DAMN IT RYUU!" Yoshi howled in fury. "**You're** the idiot who insisted on finding Kusaaijin, and now you're asking if we're there yet? You do this every time we've ran long distances! I can't believe you- HOLY SHIT!" Yoshi had just barely avoided a cactus he was about to run into by doing a last minute jump over it.

Akina simply face palmed. "I'm having some De ja vu..."

Yoshi was not ammused by Akina's comment. He then once more turned to face Ryuu. "As I was saying-"

"Nuh uh Yoshi. It's **saiyan**," Ryuu interrupted.

Nerves seemed to pop out in Yoshi's temple. Pissed, Yoshi simply gave Ryuu the middle finger and shifted his focus to wherever he was running without a word.

"I don't think I even want to ask what 'saiyan' means," Akina mumbled. "Honestly," Akina began, in a much more audible tone, "What the heck is up with you 2 lately? You guys have been at edge these past few months. The pair of you used to be best friends."

"I think it has something to do with when you visited my house for the first time a few months ago," Ryuu murmured to Akina.

Yoshi scowled at Ryuu. "It has n-nothing t-to do with t-that!" He cried.

"See? He stuttered," Ryuu remarked.

***Elsewhere* **

_"Earth Style: Rock Bullet Barrage"_ About a few dozen small rocks levitated in front of Kensaki, and they instantly darted toward the grass ninjas with the speed of bullet. The grass ninjas frantically tried to evade the rocks, but 2 unnamed ninjas were nailed by multiple rocks. The grass ninja in the back quickly dragged the wounded out of harms way and began to use medical jutsu on them.

"Crap!" The man with the cape exclaimed. "Kensaki already took out 2 of us."

Kusaaijin had a look of sheer determination. "Captain, we should attack him together!"

The man in the cape who was addressed as 'captain', quickly formed multiple hand signs in rapid succession. "Kusaaijin, I'll lead off, and you back me up!" He brought his hand to his mouth. "Fire Style: Inferno Tunnel!" The captain released an inferno from his mouth, which which seemed to surround Kensaki in a tunnel shape.

Kusaaijin also brought her hand to her mouth after forming pair of hand signs. "Earth Style: Earthen Goo!" Kusaaijin fired a very gooey, mud-like substance from her mouth through the tunnel of flames Kensaki was surrounded by.

Kensaki hand sign speed was so fast, it looked like a very messy blur. _"Wind Style: Vacuum Hurricane."_ An extremely powerful hurricane was conjured, so powerful, it obliterated the flames and the mud goo being fired at him.

The captain was shocked by the power of the technique. "I can't believe that wind technique was able to beat the chakra nature it was inferior to!"

Kusaaijin formed a hand sign. She then dashed towards Kensaki with a kunai raised.

Kensaki started to perform hand signs again, but suddenly, when he made eye contact with Kusaaijin, he hesitated. Kusaaijin's attack went right through Kensaki. 'Kusaaijin' dissapeared into thin air. The real Kusaaijin was surprised at this reaction. _"Did he realize it was genjutsu or...?"_ Kusaaijin formed a hand sign. "Plant Style: Binding Roots!" Large roots sprouted from the earth and attempted to wrap themselves around Kensaki.

Kensaki made a single hand sign. _"Wind Style: Air Blades."_ As if a sphere of cutting wind was surrounding him, anything that got near Kensaki was sliced apart.

The captain formed some hand signs of his own. "Water Style: 1000 Aqua Snakes!" He blasted out a substantial amount of water from his mouth, which all began to shape into thousands of water snakes which all attacked Kensaki.

Kensaki was forced to keep the technique going, thus draining his chakra.

Both the captain and Kusaaijin continuously used their respective jutsus on Kensaki.

Kensaki immediately changed to forming about a dozen hand signs in a flash. _"Wind Style: Vacuum Hurricane"_ The windstorm decimated all the captain's and Kusaaijin's attacks and also blew them quite a distance away. Additionally, due to being hit twice, the rocky hill they stood began to completely collapse.

"Shit! Everyone get off these rocks!" the captain screamed. The captain one of the still unconscious ninjas while the medical ninja grabbed the other. The ninjas fled from the now collapsing rocks.

However, Kusaaijin saw Kensaki escaping the other way. Suddenly, she charged up the rocks after Kensaki.

"Wait, Kusaaijin! Don't follow him!"

"Isn't completing the mission top priority?"

"Our medical ninja can't take care of both of the wounded by himself!"

"Fine, you help! I'll go after Kensaki myself!"

"No, Kusaaijin! He's too strong for you!"

But it was too late. Kusaaijin already was in hot pursuit for Kensaki. It didn't take long for her to catch up to Kensaki. "Plant Style: Binding Roots!" once more, hundreds of large root grew from the ground and attacked Kensaki.

Kensaki made a few hand signs. _"Earth Style: Iron Soil."_ He slammed his palm onto the earth. Without warning, Kusaaijin's roots stopped were completely immobile.

"What the hell?" Kusaaijin tried making more roots grow, but it was as if the ground was made of iron. _"No way! This technique...!"_

Suddenly, Kensaki punched Kusaaijin hard in the gut. He then grabbed her by the neck. Kenseki then walked over to the edge of the collapsed rocky hill they stood, and he threw her over.

The captain was horrified when he saw Kusaaijin falling down. he instantly went to catch her. Kusaaijin was knocked out. "Let's rest a bit before we head back home to report the result of the mission to Lady Kaguya."

The only other active ninja in the group gave a curt nod in return.

The Captain picked up Kusaaijin and one of the other unnamed ninjas, and he began to search among the rubble. "Aww... Convenient. Hey, Ishiri, come over here."

The man addressed as Ishiri came over carrying the last unconscious ninja. "What is it?"

"Here is a nice shady spot. We can rest here for a couple hours. I'll keep watch."

"Alright." The 2 of them laid the 3 other ninjas in the sand within the shade. Ishiri then streched out his arms and legs and began to lay down in the sand. The captain on the other hand sat on top of a boulder nearby that was in the shade keeping watch.


End file.
